Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: September 15, 2023

Industrial production increased 0.4 percent in August, and manufacturing output inched up 0.1 percent. The August reading for manufacturing was held back by a drop of 5 percent in the output of motor vehicles and parts; factory output elsewhere rose 0.6 percent. The index for mining moved up 1.4 percent, and the index for utilities climbed 0.9 percent. At 103.5 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in August was 0.2 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization moved up to 79.7 percent in August, in line with its long-run (1972–2022) average.

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization: Summary
Seasonally adjusted
Industrial production 2017=100 Percent change
2023 2023 Aug. '22 to
Aug. '23
Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[r] July[r] Aug.[p] Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[r] July[r] Aug.[p]
       
Total index 102.7 103.1 102.8 102.4 103.1 103.5 .1 .5 -.3 -.4 .7 .4 .2
Previous estimates 102.6 103.1 102.7 101.9 102.9   .1 .5 -.4 -.8 1.0    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 101.2 102.4 101.9 101.0 102.1 102.2 .0 1.2 -.6 -.9 1.1 .2 .0
Consumer goods 102.4 103.7 102.8 101.5 102.7 102.5 .2 1.2 -.8 -1.3 1.2 -.2 -.4
Business equipment 95.4 96.7 96.3 96.2 97.0 97.8 -1.1 1.4 -.5 -.1 .9 .8 .1
Nonindustrial supplies 100.6 100.2 100.1 100.0 100.1 100.3 -.3 -.4 .0 -.2 .2 .2 -1.8
Construction 101.0 101.8 101.7 101.4 101.4 100.9 -1.8 .8 -.1 -.3 .0 -.4 -2.5
Materials 104.6 104.7 104.5 104.4 105.0 105.7 .3 .1 -.2 -.1 .6 .7 1.2
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 99.1 99.9 99.7 99.2 99.6 99.7 -.8 .8 -.2 -.4 .4 .1 -.6
Previous estimates 99.0 99.8 99.6 99.0 99.5   -.8 .8 -.3 -.5 .5    
Mining 118.0 118.8 118.1 118.9 118.6 120.3 .4 .6 -.6 .7 -.2 1.4 3.9
Utilities 106.8 104.3 103.6 101.8 106.3 107.3 6.2 -2.3 -.7 -1.7 4.4 .9 1.2

Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2022 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2022
Aug. 		   
2023 Aug. '22 to
Aug. '23
Mar.[r] Apr.[r] May[r] June[r] July[r] Aug.[p]
       
Total industry 79.7 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.6 80.7 79.5 79.8 79.4 79.0 79.5 79.7 1.6
Previous estimates             79.5 79.8 79.4 78.6 79.3    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.2 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.4 79.4 77.8 78.4 78.1 77.7 77.9 77.9 1.3
Previous estimates             77.8 78.3 78.0 77.5 77.8    
Mining 86.4 86.3 84.3 88.6 78.9 91.2 92.3 92.9 92.4 93.1 92.9 94.3 .4
Utilities 84.7 93.2 84.7 93.2 78.1 74.7 73.8 71.8 71.2 69.7 72.6 73.0 3.5
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 85.6 87.9 84.8 90.0 76.9 89.7 90.4 90.3 89.8 90.3 90.4 91.4 .2
Primary and semifinished 80.2 86.5 78.0 87.8 63.6 78.9 77.3 77.1 76.8 76.4 77.1 77.2 1.5
Finished 76.7 83.4 77.5 80.7 66.3 78.0 76.4 77.6 77.1 76.4 76.8 76.8 2.0
[r] Revised. [p] Preliminary.

Market Groups

In August, the drop in the output of motor vehicles and parts contributed to declines in the indexes for consumer durables and transit equipment. Most of the other major market groups posted increases in August. The index for consumer nondurables moved up 0.4 percent, and the index for materials advanced 0.7 percent. Within materials, energy materials rose 1.5 percent, while non-energy materials edged up 0.1 percent. The production of defense and space equipment jumped 3.5 percent in August and was up over 10 percent from its year-earlier level.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output rose 0.1 percent in August for its second consecutive monthly gain but was 0.6 percent below its year-earlier level. The index for durable manufacturing edged up 0.1 percent in August, and the index for nondurable manufacturing increased 0.2 percent. Other manufacturing (publishing and logging) moved down 0.2 percent.

Within durable manufacturing, gains of more than 1 percent were recorded by primary metals (1.6 percent); machinery (2.0 percent); aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment (3.3 percent); furniture and related products (1.3 percent); and miscellaneous (1.5 percent). Apart from the large drop in the index for motor vehicles and parts, small declines—all less than 1 percent—were registered by wood products; nonmetallic mineral products; fabricated metal products; and electrical equipment, appliances, and components. Despite the August drop in the output of motor vehicles and parts, the index was 5.9 percent above its year-earlier level. Within nondurable manufacturing, gains of 1 percent or more in August in the indexes for printing and support and for chemicals were partially offset by declines elsewhere.

In August, mining output rose 1.4 percent and was 3.9 percent above its year-earlier level. The August gain in mining resulted primarily from an increase of over 3 percent in the index for oil and gas extraction. The output of utilities rose 0.9 percent.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing remained at 77.9 percent in August, a rate that is 0.3 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2022) average. The operating rate for mining jumped 1.4 percentage points to 94.3 percent, 7.9 percentage points above its long-run average. The operating rate for utilities rose 0.4 percentage point to 73.0 percent, 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: September 15, 2023