Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: March 17, 2020
Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization Notice Below

Industrial production rose 0.6 percent in February after falling 0.5 percent in January. Manufacturing output edged up 0.1 percent in February; excluding a large gain for motor vehicles and parts and a large drop for civilian aircraft, factory output was unchanged. The index for mining declined 1.5 percent, but the index for utilities jumped 7.1 percent, as temperatures returned to more typical levels following an unseasonably warm January. At 109.6 percent of its 2012 average, the level of total industrial production in February was unchanged from a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 0.4 percentage point in February to 77.0 percent, a rate that is 2.8 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2019) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2012=100 Percent change
2019 2020 2019 2020 Feb. '19 to
Feb. '20
Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[r] Jan.[r] Feb.[p] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[r] Dec.[r] Jan.[r] Feb.[p]
       
Total index 109.5 109.0 110.0 109.6 109.0 109.6 -.3 -.4 .9 -.4 -.5 .6 .0
Previous estimates 109.5 109.0 110.0 109.5 109.2   -.3 -.4 .9 -.4 -.3    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 102.6 102.3 104.2 103.2 101.7 102.9 -.8 -.3 1.9 -1.0 -1.5 1.2 -.7
Consumer goods 104.7 104.6 106.8 105.4 104.2 106.0 -.7 -.1 2.1 -1.3 -1.1 1.7 .2
Business equipment 100.5 99.7 101.8 101.4 98.4 98.0 -1.2 -.8 2.1 -.4 -3.0 -.4 -3.7
Nonindustrial supplies 108.5 108.2 108.4 108.4 109.0 109.1 .0 -.3 .2 .0 .5 .1 .6
Construction 117.1 116.4 116.2 117.0 118.7 118.2 .1 -.5 -.2 .7 1.4 -.4 2.0
Materials 115.5 114.9 115.3 115.2 115.2 115.4 -.1 -.6 .3 -.1 .1 .2 .5
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 104.5 103.9 104.9 105.0 104.8 104.9 -.6 -.6 .9 .1 -.2 .1 -.4
Previous estimates 104.5 103.9 104.9 105.0 104.9   -.6 -.6 1.0 .1 -.1    
Mining 133.6 133.5 132.6 133.7 135.0 133.0 -.1 -.1 -.7 .8 1.0 -1.5 2.1
Utilities 106.1 106.5 109.7 103.4 98.4 105.4 1.4 .3 3.0 -5.7 -4.9 7.1 .4
Market Groups

The index for consumer goods rose 1.7 percent in February. Automotive products and energy products posted sizable gains, and several other categories also recorded substantial increases. By contrast, the output of business equipment fell back 0.4 percent, held down by a large decline for transit equipment that resulted from a further reduction in the production of civilian aircraft. The index for construction supplies also declined 0.4 percent, but the indexes for defense and space equipment and for business supplies advanced 1.2 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. The output of materials rose 0.2 percent, as an increase for the energy category more than offset declines for both durable and nondurable materials.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output edged up 0.1 percent in February, but it was still 0.4 percent below its level of a year earlier. The output of durable goods increased 0.3 percent. Among the components of durables, motor vehicle and parts recorded the largest gain, while aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment recorded the largest decline. The output of nondurable manufacturing slipped 0.1 percent as its components posted mixed results. Sizable declines were posted by textile and product mills, by petroleum and coal products, and by chemicals. Sizable gains were posted by food, beverage, and tobacco products; by apparel and leather; and by printing and support. The output of other manufacturing (publishing and logging) declined 1.0 percent and was 9.0 percent below its year-earlier level.

Mining output fell 1.5 percent in February, reflecting broad-based declines among its components; even so, overall mining production was 2.1 percent above its year-earlier level. The output of utilities jumped 7.1 percent in February, with electric and natural gas utilities each posting large gains.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing in February was 75.0 percent, unchanged from its rate in January but 3.2 percentage points below its long-run average. The utilization rate for mining fell to 88.4 percent, but it was 1.2 percentage points above its long-run average. The operating rate for utilities advanced to 75.8 percent, a rate that is 9.4 percentage points below its long-run average.

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

The Federal Reserve Board plans to issue its annual revision to the indexes of industrial production (IP) and the related measures of capacity utilization in the summer of 2020. New annual benchmark data for manufacturing for 2017 and 2018 will be incorporated, as well as other annual data, including information on the mining of metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels). The weights for market-group splits of the industry-level indexes will be updated with information from the 2012 benchmark input-output accounts from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The updated IP indexes will include revisions to the monthly indicator (either product data or input data) and to seasonal factors for each industry. In addition, the estimation methods for some series may be changed. Any modifications to the methods for estimating the output of an industry will affect the index from 1972 to the present.

Capacity and capacity utilization will be revised to incorporate data for manufacturing through the fourth quarter of 2019 from the Census Bureau's Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity, along with new data on capacity from the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other organizations.

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Last Update: March 17, 2020