Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: May 16, 2023
The annual revision to industrial production and capacity utilization was published on March 28, 2023. Data referred to in the release dated March 17, 2023, were superseded by the data issued at the time of the annual revision.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 rose 0.5 percent in April after moving sideways the previous two months. In April, manufacturing increased 1.0 percent, bolstered by a strong gain in the output of motor vehicles and parts; factory output excluding motor vehicles and parts moved up 0.4 percent. The index for mining rose 0.6 percent, while the index for utilities dropped 3.1 percent, as milder temperatures in April lowered demand for heating. At 103.0 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in April was 0.2 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization edged up to 79.7 percent in April, a rate that is equal to its long-run (1972–2022) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2017=100 Percent change
2022 2023 2022 2023 Apr. '22 to
Apr. '23
Nov.[r] Dec.[r] Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[p] Nov.[r] Dec.[r] Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[p]
       
Total index 103.1 101.5 102.5 102.5 102.5 103.0 -.3 -1.5 1.0 .0 .0 .5 .2
Previous estimates 103.1 101.5 102.4 102.6 103.0   -.3 -1.5 .9 .2 .4    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 102.2 101.3 101.3 101.1 101.4 102.2 -.4 -.9 .0 -.2 .3 .7 .0
Consumer goods 103.1 102.4 102.1 102.2 103.0 103.6 -.2 -.6 -.3 .1 .8 .6 -.2
Business equipment 97.5 95.8 96.9 96.0 94.7 95.8 -1.1 -1.7 1.1 -.9 -1.4 1.2 .2
Nonindustrial supplies 102.1 100.0 101.2 100.8 100.8 100.8 -.2 -2.1 1.2 -.4 .0 .0 -2.1
Construction 102.9 101.0 104.0 103.1 100.9 101.3 -.5 -1.8 2.9 -.9 -2.1 .4 -3.1
Materials 104.1 102.1 104.0 104.3 104.1 104.5 -.3 -1.9 1.8 .3 -.2 .4 1.2
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 100.0 97.9 99.4 99.7 98.9 99.8 -.7 -2.1 1.6 .3 -.8 1.0 -.9
Previous estimates 100.1 98.0 99.4 100.0 99.5   -.7 -2.1 1.5 .6 -.5    
Mining 116.6 114.4 119.0 118.1 116.7 117.4 -.7 -1.9 4.0 -.7 -1.3 .6 5.6
Utilities 105.8 109.2 101.4 100.6 109.0 105.6 3.4 3.2 -7.2 -.8 8.4 -3.1 -.4

Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2022 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2022
Apr. 		   
2022 2023 Apr. '22 to
Apr. '23
Nov.[r] Dec.[r] Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[p]
       
Total industry 79.7 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.6 80.7 80.3 78.9 79.6 79.5 79.4 79.7 1.5
Previous estimates             80.3 78.9 79.5 79.6 79.8    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.2 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.4 79.9 78.9 77.1 78.2 78.4 77.6 78.3 1.1
Previous estimates             78.9 77.2 78.3 78.6 78.1    
Mining 86.4 86.3 84.3 88.6 78.9 88.4 91.3 89.5 93.0 92.4 91.2 91.8 1.7
Utilities 84.7 93.2 84.7 93.2 78.1 75.5 74.0 76.1 70.4 69.7 75.3 72.7 3.4
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 85.6 87.9 84.8 90.0 76.9 88.1 89.1 86.5 89.9 90.2 89.4 89.8 1.2
Primary and semifinished 80.2 86.5 78.0 87.8 63.6 79.8 78.6 77.5 76.8 76.8 77.6 77.3 1.5
Finished 76.7 83.4 77.5 80.7 66.3 77.9 77.4 76.5 77.5 77.2 76.3 77.3 1.7
[r] Revised. [p] Preliminary.
Market Groups

Most major market groups recorded growth in April. The production of consumer durables was boosted by an 8.4 percent jump in the output of automotive products. Elsewhere, there were gains in business equipment (1.2 percent), defense and space equipment (1.1 percent), non-energy materials (0.8 percent), and construction supplies (0.4 percent). In contrast, nondurable consumer goods, business supplies, and energy materials all posted slight declines for the month.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output increased 1.0 percent in April; however, the growth rates for both February and March were revised down 0.3 percentage point. All told, the index for manufacturing in April was 0.9 percent below its year-earlier level. Durable and nondurable manufacturing advanced 1.4 percent and 0.6 percent in April, respectively. Other manufacturing (publishing and logging) ticked down 0.1 percent. Industry groups within durable manufacturing posted somewhat mixed results, with the largest increase coming from motor vehicles and parts (9.3 percent) and the largest decrease coming from miscellaneous manufacturing (1.4 percent). Within nondurables, plastics and rubber products recorded the largest gain (1.2 percent), while apparel and leather recorded the largest loss (0.8 percent).

Mining output climbed 0.6 percent in April, with growth primarily coming from oil and gas extraction. The output of utilities declined 3.1 percent, as both electric and natural gas utilities production moved down.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing moved up 0.7 percentage point in April to 78.3 percent, a rate that is 0.1 percentage point above its long-run (1972–2022) average. The operating rate for mining rose 0.6 percentage point to 91.8 percent, while the operating rate for utilities fell 2.6 percentage points to 72.7 percent. The rate for mining was 5.4 percentage points above its long-run average, while the rate for utilities remained well below its long-run average.

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 March 28, 2023. New annual benchmark data for manufacturing for 2021 were incorporated, as well as other annual data, including information on the mining of metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels). The updated IP indexes included 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 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 2022 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: May 16, 2023