Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: June 15, 2023

Industrial production edged down 0.2 percent in May following two consecutive months of increases. In May, the index for manufacturing ticked up 0.1 percent, while the indexes for mining and utilities fell 0.4 and 1.8 percent, respectively. At 103.0 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in May was 0.2 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization moved down to 79.6 percent in May, a rate that is 0.1 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2022) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2017=100 Percent change
2022
Dec.[r] 		2023 2022
Dec.[r] 		2023 May '22 to
May '23
Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[p] Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[p]
       
Total index 101.5 102.5 102.5 102.7 103.2 103.0 -1.5 1.0 .0 .1 .5 -.2 .2
Previous estimates 101.5 102.5 102.5 102.5 103.0   -1.5 1.0 .0 .0 .5    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 101.3 101.3 101.2 101.2 102.2 102.1 -.8 .0 -.1 .0 1.0 -.1 .2
Consumer goods 102.4 102.1 102.2 102.5 103.5 103.3 -.6 -.3 .1 .3 1.0 -.1 .2
Business equipment 95.9 97.1 96.4 95.2 96.4 96.3 -1.6 1.2 -.8 -1.2 1.2 -.1 .3
Nonindustrial supplies 100.0 101.2 100.8 100.7 100.7 100.8 -2.0 1.2 -.4 -.2 .1 .0 -2.0
Construction 101.0 103.9 102.9 101.1 101.8 102.3 -1.8 2.8 -.9 -1.7 .6 .6 -2.2
Materials 102.1 103.9 104.2 104.6 104.9 104.6 -1.9 1.8 .2 .4 .3 -.3 .9
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 97.9 99.5 99.8 99.1 100.0 100.1 -2.1 1.6 .3 -.7 .9 .1 -.3
Previous estimates 97.9 99.4 99.7 98.9 99.8   -2.1 1.6 .3 -.8 1.0    
Mining 114.3 118.8 117.6 118.0 118.3 117.9 -2.0 3.9 -1.0 .4 .3 -.4 5.0
Utilities 109.2 101.3 100.5 106.8 104.8 102.9 3.2 -7.2 -.8 6.2 -1.8 -1.8 -3.8

Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2022 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2022
May 		   
2022
Dec.[r] 		2023 May '22 to
May '23
Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[p]
       
Total industry 79.7 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.6 80.6 78.9 79.6 79.5 79.5 79.8 79.6 1.5
Previous estimates             78.9 79.6 79.5 79.4 79.7    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.2 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.4 79.6 77.1 78.3 78.4 77.8 78.4 78.4 1.2
Previous estimates             77.1 78.2 78.4 77.6 78.3    
Mining 86.4 86.3 84.3 88.6 78.9 89.1 89.4 92.9 91.9 92.2 92.5 92.2 1.4
Utilities 84.7 93.2 84.7 93.2 78.1 76.0 76.1 70.4 69.6 73.7 72.2 70.7 3.4
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 85.6 87.9 84.8 90.0 76.9 88.5 86.5 89.9 90.0 90.4 90.3 90.1 1.0
Primary and semifinished 80.2 86.5 78.0 87.8 63.6 79.7 77.4 76.8 76.8 77.3 77.2 77.1 1.5
Finished 76.7 83.4 77.5 80.7 66.3 77.5 76.5 77.6 77.2 76.4 77.5 77.2 1.8
[r] Revised. [p] Preliminary.
Market Groups

Major market groups posted mixed results in May. Notable gains were recorded in the indexes for defense and space equipment (1.1 percent) and construction supplies (0.6 percent); most other major market groups recorded modest declines. Within business equipment, an increase of 2.1 percent in the transit component was more than offset by decreases of 3/4 percent in both the information processing and the industrial and other components.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output edged up 0.1 percent in May after a gain of nearly 1 percent in April; the index in May is 0.3 percent below its year-earlier level. The indexes for durable manufacturing and other manufacturing (publishing and logging) increased 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, while the output of nondurable manufacturing moved down 0.1 percent. Within durables, aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment posted the largest gain of 2.5 percent, while computer and electronic products posted the largest loss of 0.8 percent. The index for motor vehicles and parts moved up 0.2 percent in May after jumping nearly 10 percent in April. Within nondurables, a gain of 1.7 percent in May in the index for petroleum and coal products was more than offset by declines in most other industries.

Mining output slid 0.4 percent in May, driven primarily by decreases in coal mining and support activities (in particular, oil and gas well drilling). The output of utilities declined 1.8 percent for a second consecutive month, as electric utilities fell in May, while natural gas utilities remained unchanged.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing remained at 78.4 percent in May, a rate that is 0.2 percentage point above its long-run (1972–2022) average. The operating rate for mining edged down 0.3 percentage point to 92.2 percent, and the operating rate for utilities fell 1.5 percentage points to 70.7 percent. The rate for mining was 5.8 percentage points above its long-run average, while the rate for utilities remained well below its long-run average.

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: June 15, 2023