Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: July 17, 2018

Industrial production rose 0.6 percent in June after declining 0.5 percent in May. For the second quarter as a whole, industrial production advanced at an annual rate of 6.0 percent, its third consecutive quarterly increase. Manufacturing output moved up 0.8 percent in June. The production of motor vehicles and parts rebounded last month after truck assemblies fell sharply in May because of a disruption at a parts supplier. Factory output, aside from motor vehicles and parts, increased 0.3 percent in June. The index for mining rose 1.2 percent and surpassed the level of its previous historical peak (December 2014); the output of utilities moved down 1.5 percent. At 107.7 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 3.8 percent higher in June than it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 0.3 percentage point in June to 78.0 percent, a rate that is 1.8 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2017) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2012=100 Percent change
2018 2018 June '17 to
June '18
Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[p] Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[p]
       
Total index 105.4 105.9 106.4 107.6 107.1 107.7 -.3 .4 .5 1.1 -.5 .6 3.8
Previous estimates 105.4 105.9 106.4 107.4 107.3   -.3 .4 .5 .9 -.1    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 101.7 101.7 102.1 103.7 101.9 103.0 .2 .0 .4 1.5 -1.8 1.1 2.6
Consumer goods 105.5 105.2 105.7 107.4 105.4 106.1 .3 -.3 .5 1.6 -1.9 .7 2.5
Business equipment 98.5 98.6 98.7 99.8 97.7 99.8 .0 .1 .2 1.1 -2.0 2.1 2.2
Nonindustrial supplies 105.8 106.6 106.6 107.3 107.2 106.9 -.8 .8 .0 .7 -.1 -.3 2.0
Construction 111.2 114.6 113.4 114.0 114.3 113.6 -1.5 3.1 -1.0 .5 .3 -.6 3.2
Materials 108.2 108.9 109.7 110.7 111.2 111.7 -.7 .7 .7 .9 .5 .5 5.4
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 102.3 103.7 103.6 104.2 103.1 103.9 -.5 1.4 -.1 .5 -1.0 .8 1.9
Previous estimates 102.3 103.7 103.6 104.2 103.5   -.5 1.4 -.1 .6 -.7    
Mining 113.9 117.1 118.6 119.5 122.2 123.7 -1.0 2.8 1.4 .7 2.2 1.2 12.9
Utilities 108.8 98.4 102.6 108.5 107.8 106.2 2.1 -9.6 4.2 5.7 -.7 -1.5 5.0
Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2017 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2017
June 		   
2018 June '17 to
June '18
Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[p]
       
Total industry 79.8 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.7 76.2 77.0 77.2 77.5 78.2 77.7 78.0 1.5
Previous estimates             77.0 77.2 77.5 78.1 77.9    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.3 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.7 74.8 74.7 75.7 75.5 75.8 75.0 75.5 1.1
Previous estimates             74.7 75.7 75.5 75.9 75.3    
Mining 87.0 86.3 84.3 88.6 78.2 84.9 87.4 89.5 90.3 90.5 92.1 92.7 3.4
Utilities 85.3 92.9 84.4 92.9 78.3 76.5 81.5 73.6 76.6 80.9 80.2 78.9 1.8
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 86.0 87.8 84.7 90.0 76.4 84.7 85.3 86.9 87.8 87.8 89.2 89.8 2.5
Primary and semifinished 80.4 86.5 78.1 87.7 63.8 75.0 76.3 75.4 76.0 77.2 76.5 76.3 1.1
Finished 76.9 83.4 77.3 80.7 66.6 74.1 74.2 75.1 74.8 75.3 74.1 75.0 1.2
r Revised. p Preliminary.
Market Groups

The rebound in the output of motor vehicles and parts contributed to gains of about 1/2 percent for consumer goods and for materials and to a jump of about 2 percent for business equipment.

Excluding automotive products, the index for consumer goods was little changed; the output of other durable consumer goods, on net, edged up, and the indexes for non-energy nondurable consumer goods and for consumer energy products both edged down. The advances in business equipment and in materials reflected gains in nearly all of their other major components in addition to the indexes related to motor vehicles.

The results were mixed for major market groups that are not directly affected by swings in the production of motor vehicles and parts. The index for construction supplies declined, the index for business supplies was little changed, and the index for defense and space equipment moved up.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output moved up 0.8 percent in June and increased at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the second quarter, about the same pace as in the first quarter. In June, the index for durables advanced 1.6 percent, while the production of nondurables was little changed. The output of other manufacturing (publishing and logging) declined 0.7 percent. Within durables, the rebound of about 8 percent for motor vehicles and parts was accompanied by increases of 1 percent or more for wood products, for computer and electronic products, and for aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment. Within nondurable manufacturing, a large drop for apparel and leather and smaller declines for plastics and rubber products and for food, beverage, and tobacco products were offset by gains elsewhere.

Mining output rose more than 1 percent in June for its fifth consecutive monthly increase; the index jumped more than 19 percent at an annual rate in the second quarter. Gains in the oil and gas sector continued to support the expansion of the mining sector so far this year. In June, the index for utilities decreased 1 1/2 percent, as a loss for electric utilities outweighed a gain for gas utilities.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing rose 0.5 percentage point to 75.5 percent in June, a rate that is 2.8 percentage points below its long-run average. The operating rate for durables increased about 1 percentage point, and the rate for nondurables was unchanged. The utilization rate for mining rose to 92.7 percent, which is about 6 percentage points higher than its long-run average and about 1 percentage point above its peak in 2014. The rate for utilities moved down 1.3 percentage points and remained well below its long-run average.

Note: Revised Estimates of Industrial Capacity

The estimates for industrial capacity for 2018 were revised for this release. The revisions reflect updated measures of physical capacity from various government and private sources as well as updated estimates of capital spending by industry. Measured from the fourth quarter of 2017 to the fourth quarter of 2018, capacity for the industrial sector is now expected to increase 2.0 percent, a rate that is 0.1 percentage point higher than previously estimated. The increase in capacity for manufacturing is unrevised at 1.3 percent. Mining capacity is now expected to rise 5.7 percent. This increase is 0.9 percentage point higher than previously estimated, primarily reflecting faster capacity growth for oil and gas extraction. The gain in capacity for utilities, at 2.0 percent, is 0.3 percentage point lower than previously estimated.

Note. The statistics in this release cover output, capacity, and capacity utilization in the U.S. industrial sector, which is defined by the Federal Reserve to comprise manufacturing, mining, and electric and gas utilities. Mining is defined as all industries in sector 21 of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS); electric and gas utilities are those in NAICS sectors 2211 and 2212. Manufacturing comprises NAICS manufacturing industries (sector 31-33) plus the logging industry and the newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishing industries. Logging and publishing are classified elsewhere in NAICS (under agriculture and information respectively), but historically they were considered to be manufacturing and were included in the industrial sector under the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. In December 2002 the Federal Reserve reclassified all its industrial output data from the SIC system to NAICS.

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Last Update: July 17, 2018