Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: August 17, 2021
The annual revision to industrial production and capacity utilization was published on May 28, 2021. Data referred to in the release dated May 14, 2021, were superseded by the data issued at the time of the annual revision. Information on the annual revision to industrial production and capacity utilization appears below.

Industrial production increased 0.9 percent in July after moving up 0.2 percent in June. In July, manufacturing output rose 1.4 percent. About half of the gain in factory output is attributable to a jump of 11.2 percent for motor vehicles and parts, as a number of vehicle manufacturers trimmed or canceled their typical July shutdowns. Despite the large increase last month, vehicle assemblies continued to be constrained by a persistent shortage of semiconductors; the production of motor vehicles and parts in July was about 3-1/2 percent below its recent peak in January 2021. The output of utilities decreased 2.1 percent in July, while the index for mining rose 1.2 percent.

At 101.1 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in July was 6.6 percent above its year-earlier level but 0.2 percent below its pre-pandemic (February 2020) level. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector rose 0.7 percentage point in July to 76.1 percent, a rate that is 3.5 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2020) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2017=100 Percent change
2021 2021 July '20 to
July '21
Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[r] July[p] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[r] July[p]
       
Total index 96.4 99.1 99.2 100.0 100.2 101.1 -3.0 2.8 .0 .8 .2 .9 6.6
Previous estimates 96.4 98.9 99.0 99.7 100.1   -3.1 2.7 .0 .7 .4    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 98.0 99.7 98.9 99.9 99.6 101.1 -2.0 1.7 -.9 1.1 -.3 1.6 5.5
Consumer goods 98.7 99.9 99.4 100.3 99.8 100.8 -2.1 1.2 -.5 1.0 -.5 1.0 2.2
Business equipment 91.3 94.0 92.2 93.8 93.2 95.8 -2.8 2.9 -1.9 1.7 -.6 2.8 9.7
Nonindustrial supplies 94.3 96.8 96.7 97.1 96.7 97.5 -2.4 2.7 -.2 .5 -.4 .8 7.1
Construction 97.1 101.6 100.2 99.6 98.5 99.5 -3.9 4.7 -1.4 -.6 -1.1 .9 6.3
Materials 95.4 99.2 100.2 100.9 101.8 102.2 -4.2 3.9 1.0 .7 .9 .4 7.4
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 94.6 97.7 97.4 98.5 98.2 99.5 -3.7 3.4 -.3 1.1 -.3 1.4 7.4
Previous estimates 94.5 97.5 97.1 97.9 97.9   -3.7 3.1 -.4 .9 -.1    
Mining 94.2 105.3 105.0 106.6 107.2 108.4 -8.9 11.9 -.3 1.5 .5 1.2 12.1
Utilities 108.3 99.0 101.8 100.3 103.3 101.2 7.4 -8.6 2.8 -1.5 3.1 -2.1 -3.8

Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2020 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2020
July 		   
2021 July '20 to
July '21
Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[r] July[p]
       
Total industry 79.6 85.2 78.8 85.1 66.6 71.5 72.7 74.7 74.7 75.3 75.4 76.1 .1
Previous estimates             72.7 74.6 74.6 75.1 75.4    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.2 85.6 77.3 84.7 63.5 71.2 72.8 75.2 75.0 75.8 75.5 76.6 -.2
Previous estimates             72.7 75.0 74.7 75.4 75.3    
Mining 86.2 86.0 83.8 88.3 78.3 67.4 66.4 74.4 74.3 75.5 75.9 76.9 -1.7
Utilities 85.0 93.1 84.6 93.2 78.0 77.5 78.5 71.6 73.5 72.3 74.3 72.6 2.7
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 85.4 87.7 84.6 89.7 76.5 69.4 66.4 73.9 75.1 77.1 77.4 78.1 -1.0
Primary and semifinished 80.2 86.5 78.1 87.9 63.5 71.7 74.0 74.2 74.6 74.5 75.0 75.1 .4
Finished 76.8 83.4 77.5 80.7 66.5 71.9 73.7 75.7 74.8 75.6 75.2 76.6 -.2
[r] Revised. [p] Preliminary.
Market Groups

Most major market groups posted increases in July. The step-up in the output of motor vehicles and parts contributed to large increases in consumer durables, business equipment, and durable materials. The output of defense and space equipment also rose strongly, while the indexes for non-energy nondurable consumer goods, construction supplies, business supplies, and nondurable materials posted more modest gains. In contrast, the indexes for consumer energy products and energy materials both declined.

Industry Groups

In July, manufacturing output increased 1.4 percent; excluding the large gain in motor vehicles and parts, manufacturing output moved up 0.7 percent. The index for overall manufacturing in July was 0.8 percent above its pre-pandemic level. Production of durable goods rose 2.4 percent in July. In addition to the increase for motor vehicles and parts, gains of 1.5 percent or more were recorded by machinery; electrical equipment, appliances, and components; aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment; and miscellaneous manufacturing. The output of nondurable goods rose 0.3 percent; the largest increases were recorded by textile and product mills and by plastics and rubber products. The output of other manufacturing (publishing and logging) increased 0.2 percent. The index for mining advanced 1.2 percent, about the same pace it has averaged over the past 12 months. The index for utilities fell 2.1 percent in July, as an unusually hot June gave way to a July with temperatures somewhat below normal.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing increased 1.1 percentage points in July to 76.6 percent. The operating rate for mining rose 1.0 percentage point to 76.9 percent, while the operating rate for utilities decreased 1.7 percentage points to 72.6 percent. The rates for all three sectors remained below their long-run averages.

Release Dates for 2022

In 2022, the G.17 release on Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization will be published at 9:15 a.m. on January 14, February 16, March 17, April 15, May 17, June 17, July 15, August 16, September 15, October 18, November 16, and December 15.

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

The Federal Reserve Board issued its annual revision to the indexes of industrial production (IP) and the related measures of capacity utilization on May 28, 2021. The base year for the revised indexes is 2017. New annual benchmark data for manufacturing for 2017 through 2019 were 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 were updated with information from the 2012 benchmark input-output accounts from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The updated IP indexes included revisions to the monthly production indicator (either product data or input data) and to seasonal factors for each industry. In addition, the estimation methods for some series were changed. Any modifications to the methods for estimating the output of an industry affected the index from 1972 to the present.

Capacity and capacity utilization were revised to incorporate data for manufacturing through the fourth quarter of 2020 from the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization, along with new data on capacity from the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other organizations.

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: August 17, 2021