Release Date: May 15, 2003
Release dates | Historical data | Documentation
Current Monthly Release Other formats: ASCII | PDF (144 KB)
Supplemental Monthly Release Other formats: ASCII | PDF (144 KB)
Annual Revision Release Other formats: ASCII | PDF (150 KB)
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION
Industrial production fell 0.5 percent in both April and March. At 109.7 percent of its 1997 average, output in April was 0.4 percent lower than its level in April 2002. Manufacturing output decreased 0.6 percent in April and was 1.9 percent below the recent high recorded in August 2002. Output at utilities ticked up 0.1 percent, and production in mining climbed 0.4 percent. Capacity utilization for total industry dropped to 74.4 percent, a rate nearly 0.5 percentage point below that of March and almost 7 percentage points below its 1972-2002 average.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION: SUMMARY
Seasonally adjusted
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| 1997=100 | Percent change
| ----------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------
| 2003 | 2003 | Apr. '02 to
Industrial production | Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. | Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. | Apr. '03
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| | |
Total index | 110.7 110.7 110.2 109.7 | .7 .0 -.5 -.5 | -.4
Previous estimates | 110.8 110.7 110.1 | .8 -.1 -.5 |
| | |
Major market groups | | |
Final Products | 107.1 106.9 106.5 106.1 | 1.0 -.2 -.3 -.4 | -1.0
Consumer goods | 107.7 107.5 107.0 106.5 | 1.0 -.2 -.5 -.4 | -.9
Business equipment | 105.6 105.5 105.5 105.0 | .9 -.2 .0 -.5 | -2.5
Nonindustrial supplies | 114.4 114.5 113.9 113.3 | .4 .1 -.5 -.6 | -.5
Construction | 102.3 101.8 101.5 100.7 | -.1 -.5 -.2 -.8 | -3.1
Materials | 113.0 113.2 112.5 111.9 | .5 .2 -.6 -.5 | .3
| | |
Major industry groups | | |
Manufacturing (see note below) | 111.1 111.0 110.9 110.2 | .5 -.1 -.1 -.6 | -.7
Previous estimates | 111.3 111.0 110.8 | .6 -.3 -.2 |
Mining | 93.6 93.5 93.9 94.2 | -1.7 -.1 .4 .4 | .9
Utilities | 115.0 116.3 111.7 111.8 | 4.0 1.1 -4.0 .1 | 1.1
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| | Capacity
| Percent of capacity | growth
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------
| Average 1982 1988-89 2002 | 2003 | Apr. '02 to
Capacity utilization | 1972-2002 Low High Apr. | Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. | Apr. '03
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| | |
Total industry | 81.3 70.8 85.1 75.6 | 75.3 75.3 74.8 74.4 | 1.2
Previous estimates | | 75.4 75.3 74.8 |
| | |
Manufacturing (see note below) | 80.2 68.6 85.6 73.6 | 73.3 73.2 73.0 72.5 | .9
Previous estimates | | 73.4 73.1 72.9 |
Mining | 86.9 78.6 85.6 84.7 | 84.9 84.8 85.1 85.4 | .1
Utilities | 86.7 77.2 92.6 88.6 | 87.8 88.4 84.5 84.3 | 6.3
| | |
Stage-of-process groups | | |
Crude | 86.4 77.2 88.6 82.7 | 82.6 83.0 83.4 83.2 | -.3
Primary and semifinished | 82.2 67.9 86.2 77.5 | 77.8 77.9 77.1 76.5 | 1.6
Finished | 78.5 71.3 83.1 71.7 | 70.8 70.4 70.3 70.0 | .9
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r Revised. p Preliminary.
The statistics in this release cover output, capacity, and capacity utilization in the
industrial sector, which the Federal Reserve defines as manufacturing, mining, and electric and
gas utilities. Manufacturing consists of those industries included in the North American Industry
Classification System, or NAICS, manufacturing plus those industries-logging and newspaper, periodical,
book and directory publishing-that have traditionally been considered manufacturing and included
in the industrial sector.
Market Groups
The output of consumer goods moved down 0.4 percent in April, with declines in both nondurable and durable goods. The production of automotive products fell 0.8 percent, its third consecutive monthly decline. Among other consumer durables, overall output fell, as declines in the production of miscellaneous goods outweighed gains in the output of home electronics. The production of nondurable consumer goods edged down 0.3 percent, as both energy and non-energy goods posted declines. Within non-energy nondurables, foods and tobacco were little changed again, while the output of paper products fell 1.2 percent after having increased in February and March, and clothing production posted another sizable decline.
The index for business equipment moved down 0.5 percent in April and stood 2.5 percent below its level in April 2002. Declines were widespread across categories, with the output of transit equipment, particularly motor vehicles, recording the sharpest decrease. Information processing equipment ticked down after having posted a sizable gain in the previous month, and industrial and other equipment edged down for a second month. A 0.4 percent drop in the production of defense and space equipment mainly reflected a strike at a major military aircraft producer.
The output of construction supplies declined 0.8 percent in April, its eighth consecutive monthly decline. The index for this category was at its lowest level since September 1997. The output of business supplies dropped 0.4 percent but was 1.2 percent above its level a year ago.
The production of materials fell 0.5 percent in April. The output of durable materials was held down by decreases in the production of consumer parts--mainly those related to motor vehicles--and other durable materials, while the production of equipment parts moved up 0.6 percent. The production of energy materials was little changed. The output of nondurable materials fell 0.7 percent, with declines recorded in textiles, paper, and chemicals.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing output declined 0.6 percent in April after having edged down 0.1 percent in both March and February. Losses in April were widespread. The overall factory operating rate moved down 0.5 percentage point, to 72.5 percent, and was the lowest rate since May 1983. A 0.6 percent drop in the production of durable goods was led by another pullback in motor vehicles assemblies. Other industries that contributed to the decline included primary and fabricated metals, nonmetallic mineral products, furniture and related products, and miscellaneous durable goods. Among high-technology industries, both computers and semiconductors had noticeable gains in output, while the production of communications equipment declined sharply and reversed about half of the previous month's gain. The output of nondurable goods registered a moderate decrease, with declines in paper, chemicals, and petroleum and coal products accounting for most of the overall loss. Production in other (non-NAICS) manufacturing industries (publishing and logging), which rose sharply in March, fell by a similar amount in April.
Output at mines increased again in April, and the utilization rate rose to 85.4 percent, 0.5 percentage point above the average rate in the first quarter. Output at utilities ticked up after having dropped sharply in March; the index for this category was up 1.1 percent from its year-ago level.
By stage of processing, capacity utilization for industries in the crude stage fell 0.2 percentage point, to 83.2 percent; for industries in the primary and semifinished stages, the operating rate fell 0.6 percentage point, to 76.5 percent. For industries in the finished stage, capacity utilization declined 0.3 percentage point, to 70.0 percent.
G.17 Release Tables:
| Ascii | Screen reader | Summary: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization | Chart | Chart 1: Industrial Production, Capacity, and Capacity Utilization | Chart | Chart 2: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization | Chart | Chart 3: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization, High Technology Industries |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 1:Industrial Production: Market and Industry Groups (percent change) |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 2:Industrial Production: Special Aggregates and Selected Detail (percent change) |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 3: Motor Vehicle Assemblies |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 4: Industrial Production Indexes: Market and Industry Group Summary |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 5: Industrial Production Indexes: Special Aggregates |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 6: Diffusion Indexes of Industrial Production |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 7: Capacity Utilization: Manufacturing, Mining, and Utilities |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 8: Industrial Capacity: Manufacturing, Mining, and Utilities (percent change) |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 9: Industrial Production: Gross Value of Products |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 10: Gross-Value-Weighted Industrial Production: Stage-of-Process Groups |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 11: Electric Power Use: Manufacturing and Mining |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 12: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 13: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 14: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Total Industry excluding Selected High-Technology Industries |
| Ascii | Screen reader | Table 15: Historical Statistics for IP, Capacity, and Utilization: Manufacturing excluding Selected High-Technology Industries |
Release dates | Historical data | Documentation
Current Monthly Release Other formats: ASCII | PDF (144 KB)
Supplemental Monthly Release Other formats: ASCII | PDF (144 KB)
Annual Revision Release Other formats: ASCII | PDF (150 KB)