Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: July 18, 2023

Industrial production declined 0.5 percent in June for a second consecutive month but advanced 0.7 percent at an annual rate for the second quarter as a whole. Manufacturing output moved down 0.3 percent in June but rose 1.5 percent in the second quarter. In June, the indexes for mining and utilities fell 0.2 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. At 102.2 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in June was 0.4 percent below its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization stepped down to 78.9 percent in June, a rate that is 0.8 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2022) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2017=100 Percent change
2023 2023 June '22 to
June '23
Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[p] Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[p]
       
Total index 102.5 102.6 102.7 103.3 102.8 102.2 1.0 .0 .1 .6 -.5 -.5 -.4
Previous estimates 102.5 102.5 102.7 103.2 103.0   1.0 .0 .1 .5 -.2    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 101.4 101.2 101.2 102.5 102.1 101.2 .1 -.2 -.1 1.3 -.4 -.9 -.4
Consumer goods 102.2 102.2 102.4 103.9 103.4 102.1 -.2 .0 .2 1.4 -.5 -1.3 -.7
Business equipment 97.2 96.4 95.3 96.4 96.0 96.0 1.3 -.8 -1.2 1.2 -.4 .0 -.2
Nonindustrial supplies 101.2 101.0 100.7 100.5 100.3 100.1 1.2 -.1 -.3 -.1 -.2 -.2 -1.9
Construction 103.9 102.9 101.1 101.9 102.1 102.4 2.8 -.9 -1.7 .8 .2 .3 -1.1
Materials 104.0 104.2 104.6 104.9 104.2 103.8 1.8 .2 .3 .3 -.6 -.4 .0
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 99.5 99.9 99.1 100.1 99.9 99.6 1.7 .4 -.8 1.0 -.2 -.3 -.3
Previous estimates 99.5 99.8 99.1 100.0 100.1   1.6 .3 -.7 .9 .1    
Mining 118.7 117.5 117.8 118.8 117.2 117.0 3.9 -1.0 .3 .9 -1.4 -.2 2.8
Utilities 101.3 100.5 106.8 104.3 102.7 100.1 -7.2 -.8 6.2 -2.3 -1.5 -2.6 -6.2

Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2022 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2022
June 		   
2023 June '22 to
June '23
Jan.[r] Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[p]
       
Total industry 79.7 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.6 80.5 79.6 79.6 79.5 79.9 79.4 78.9 1.6
Previous estimates             79.6 79.5 79.5 79.8 79.6    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.2 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.4 79.2 78.3 78.5 77.8 78.5 78.3 78.0 1.2
Previous estimates             78.3 78.4 77.8 78.4 78.4    
Mining 86.4 86.3 84.3 88.6 78.9 90.1 92.8 91.9 92.1 92.9 91.7 91.6 1.1
Utilities 84.7 93.2 84.7 93.2 78.1 75.6 70.4 69.6 73.7 71.8 70.6 68.5 3.4
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 85.6 87.9 84.8 90.0 76.9 89.3 89.8 90.1 90.3 90.6 89.5 89.4 .7
Primary and semifinished 80.2 86.5 78.0 87.8 63.6 79.0 76.8 76.9 77.4 77.2 76.9 76.3 1.5
Finished 76.7 83.4 77.5 80.7 66.3 77.5 77.7 77.3 76.5 77.6 77.2 76.7 1.9
[r] Revised. [p] Preliminary.

Market Groups

Most major market groups posted declines in June. The index for consumer durables fell 2.7 percent, led by notable decreases in the output of appliances, furniture, and carpeting (3.8 percent) and of automotive products (3.6 percent). The decrease of 0.9 percent in the index for consumer nondurables reflected declines in clothing (2.1 percent), energy (1.8 percent), and food and tobacco (1.3 percent). Within business equipment, an increase in the index for information processing was offset by decreases in the indexes for transit and for industrial and other. Defense and space equipment posted the only gain of 1.5 percent or greater among the market groups.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output moved down 0.3 percent in June. For the second quarter, factory output moved up 1.5 percent at an annual rate, buttressed by a second-quarter jump of 36.7 percent in the production of motor vehicles and parts during the quarter. In June, the indexes for nondurable manufacturing and durable manufacturing fell 0.6 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively; the index for other manufacturing (publishing and logging) edged down 0.2 percent. Within nondurables, only chemicals recorded an increase, whereas decreases of at least 1 percent were recorded by most other industries. Notable declines occurred in the indexes for printing and support (2.5 percent) and petroleum and coal products (1.6 percent). The index for durable manufacturing, on the other hand, posted more mixed results in June, with declines in the output of motor vehicles and parts (3.0 percent) and of nonmetallic mineral products (1.2 percent) being mostly offset by gains elsewhere.

Mining output inched down 0.2 percent in June and declined 1.1 percent at an annual rate in the second quarter. Within mining, a drop of 2.8 percent in the index for oil and gas well drilling in June was nearly offset by a gain in oil and gas extraction. The output of utilities fell 2.6 percent in June and 2.0 percent in the second quarter.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing edged down to 78.0 percent in June, a rate that is 0.2 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2022) average. The operating rate for mining ticked down 0.1 percentage point to 91.6 percent, and the operating rate for utilities dropped 2.1 percentage points to 68.5 percent. The rate for mining was 5.2 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: July 18, 2023