Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: August 16, 2023

In July, total industrial production increased 1.0 percent following declines in the previous two months. Manufacturing output rose 0.5 percent in July; the production of motor vehicles and parts jumped 5.2 percent, while factory output elsewhere edged up 0.1 percent. The index for mining moved up 0.5 percent, and the index for utilities climbed 5.4 percent as very high temperatures in July raised demand for cooling. At 102.9 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in July was 0.2 percent below its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization moved up to 79.3 percent in July, a rate that is 0.4 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 July '22 to
July '23
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 102.6 102.6 103.1 102.7 101.9 102.9 .0 .1 .5 -.4 -.8 1.0 -.2
Previous estimates 102.6 102.7 103.3 102.8 102.2   .0 .1 .6 -.5 -.5    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 101.2 101.2 102.4 101.8 100.7 101.9 -.2 .0 1.2 -.6 -1.1 1.2 .2
Consumer goods 102.2 102.4 103.8 103.0 101.5 102.9 .0 .2 1.3 -.7 -1.5 1.4 .2
Business equipment 96.5 95.4 96.5 96.0 95.7 96.6 -.7 -1.1 1.2 -.6 -.3 1.0 -.2
Nonindustrial supplies 100.9 100.5 100.0 99.9 99.4 99.6 -.2 -.4 -.5 -.1 -.4 .2 -2.6
Construction 102.8 100.9 101.7 101.5 101.2 101.0 -1.0 -1.8 .7 -.1 -.3 -.2 -2.7
Materials 104.2 104.6 104.8 104.5 103.7 104.8 .3 .3 .2 -.3 -.8 1.1 .3
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 99.9 99.0 99.8 99.6 99.0 99.5 .3 -.8 .8 -.3 -.5 .5 -.7
Previous estimates 99.9 99.1 100.1 99.9 99.6   .4 -.8 1.0 -.2 -.3    
Mining 117.5 118.1 119.2 118.4 117.3 117.9 -1.0 .5 .9 -.7 -.9 .5 2.0
Utilities 100.5 106.8 104.3 103.6 100.5 105.9 -.8 6.2 -2.3 -.7 -3.0 5.4 -.9

Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2022 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2022
July 		   
2023 July '22 to
July '23
Feb.[r] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[r] July[p]
       
Total industry 79.7 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.6 80.7 79.5 79.5 79.8 79.4 78.6 79.3 1.6
Previous estimates             79.6 79.5 79.9 79.4 78.9    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.2 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.4 79.3 78.5 77.8 78.3 78.0 77.5 77.8 1.2
Previous estimates             78.5 77.8 78.5 78.3 78.0    
Mining 86.4 86.3 84.3 88.6 78.9 91.2 91.9 92.4 93.2 92.6 91.8 92.4 .7
Utilities 84.7 93.2 84.7 93.2 78.1 75.5 69.6 73.8 71.8 71.1 68.8 72.3 3.5
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 85.6 87.9 84.8 90.0 76.9 89.9 90.1 90.5 90.7 90.1 89.4 90.0 .5
Primary and semifinished 80.2 86.5 78.0 87.8 63.6 79.2 76.8 77.3 77.0 76.7 76.0 76.8 1.5
Finished 76.7 83.4 77.5 80.7 66.3 77.6 77.3 76.4 77.6 77.1 76.3 76.8 1.9
[r] Revised. [p] Preliminary.

Market Groups

Most major market groups recorded growth in July. The production of consumer durables was boosted by a jump of 4.8 percent in the output of automotive products. Similarly, the abnormally hot weather in July lifted the indexes of energy consumer goods and energy materials, which advanced 3.7 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively. Elsewhere, there were gains of 1 percent in consumer nondurables, business equipment, as well as defense and space equipment. Of the major market groups, construction supplies recorded the only decline.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output rose 0.5 percent in July; however, the growth rates for the previous three months were revised down. Altogether, the index for manufacturing in July was 0.7 percent below its year-earlier level. In July, the indexes for durable and nondurable manufacturing increased 0.8 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. Other manufacturing (publishing and logging) advanced 1.3 percent.

Within durable manufacturing, gains of 1 percent or more were registered by motor vehicles and parts (5.2 percent), machinery (1.3 percent), and computer and electronic products (1.0 percent). In contrast, losses of 1 percent or more were recorded by electrical equipment, appliances, and components (1.7 percent); primary metals (1.2 percent); and furniture and related products (1.2 percent). Within nondurable manufacturing, modest declines in the indexes of paper, of plastics and rubber products, and of apparel and leather were more than offset by gains elsewhere.

Mining output grew 0.5 percent in July and was 2.0 percent above its year-earlier level. The output of utilities climbed 5.4 percent in July, bolstered by a jump of 6.7 percent for electric utilities.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing edged up to 77.8 percent in July, a rate that is 0.4 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2022) average. The operating rate for mining moved up 0.6 percentage point to 92.4 percent, 6 percentage points above its long-run average. The operating rate for utilities strengthened 3.5 percentage points to 72.3 percent, well below its long-run average.

Release Dates for 2024

In 2024, the G.17 release on Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization will be published at 9:15 a.m. on January 17, February 15, March 15, April 16, May 16, June 18, July 17, August 15, September 17, October 17, November 15, and December 17.

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.

G.17 Release Tables:

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Last Update: August 16, 2023