Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: November 16, 2023

Industrial production declined 0.6 percent in October. Manufacturing output fell 0.7 percent. Much of this decline was due to a 10 percent drop in the output of motor vehicles and parts that was affected by strikes at several major manufacturers of motor vehicles—the index for manufacturing excluding motor vehicles and parts edged up 0.1 percent. The index for utilities decreased 1.6 percent, and the output of mines increased 0.4 percent. Total industrial production in October was 0.7 percent below its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization moved down 0.6 percentage point to 78.9 percent in October, 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 Oct. '22 to
Oct. '23
May[r] June[r] July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[p] May[r] June[r] July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[p]
       
Total index 102.9 102.3 103.3 103.3 103.4 102.7 -.2 -.6 .9 .0 .1 -.6 -.7
Previous estimates 102.8 102.3 103.3 103.3 103.6   -.3 -.5 1.0 .0 .3    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 101.8 100.6 101.8 102.0 101.7 100.8 -.6 -1.2 1.2 .2 -.2 -.9 -1.8
Consumer goods 102.8 101.0 102.4 102.6 102.4 101.2 -.9 -1.7 1.3 .2 -.1 -1.2 -2.0
Business equipment 96.2 96.1 97.0 97.0 96.1 95.6 -.5 -.1 .9 .0 -.9 -.5 -3.0
Nonindustrial supplies 100.0 99.9 100.1 100.2 100.5 100.3 -.2 -.2 .3 .1 .3 -.2 -1.9
Construction 101.8 101.2 101.2 100.5 101.3 101.5 -.1 -.5 .0 -.7 .8 .2 -1.9
Materials 104.9 104.6 105.6 105.5 105.8 105.1 .1 -.3 1.0 -.1 .3 -.6 .6
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 99.8 99.1 99.5 99.5 99.7 99.0 -.2 -.7 .4 .0 .2 -.7 -1.7
Previous estimates 99.7 99.1 99.5 99.4 99.8   -.2 -.6 .4 -.1 .4    
Mining 118.4 119.0 120.3 119.6 119.5 120.0 -.3 .6 1.0 -.6 .0 .4 2.2
Utilities 103.7 102.0 107.0 107.7 107.1 105.4 -.6 -1.6 4.8 .7 -.6 -1.6 2.9

Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2022 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2022
Oct. 		   
2023 Oct. '22 to
Oct. '23
May[r] June[r] July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[p]
       
Total industry 79.7 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.6 80.6 79.5 78.9 79.6 79.5 79.5 78.9 1.5
Previous estimates             79.5 78.9 79.6 79.5 79.7    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.2 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.4 79.5 78.2 77.6 77.8 77.7 77.8 77.2 1.3
Previous estimates             78.1 77.6 77.8 77.7 77.8    
Mining 86.4 86.3 84.3 88.6 78.9 92.1 92.6 93.2 94.3 93.8 93.8 94.3 -.2
Utilities 84.7 93.2 84.7 93.2 78.1 71.8 71.2 69.9 73.0 73.3 72.7 71.4 3.5
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 85.6 87.9 84.8 90.0 76.9 89.9 90.5 90.9 91.6 91.4 91.8 92.2 -.2
Primary and semifinished 80.2 86.5 78.0 87.8 63.6 78.4 76.9 76.3 77.1 77.2 77.2 76.6 1.4
Finished 76.7 83.4 77.5 80.7 66.3 78.2 77.1 76.1 76.6 76.4 76.2 75.2 2.1
[r] Revised. [p] Preliminary.

Market Groups

The output of major market groups was mixed in October, with the drop in motor vehicles and parts output exerting downward pressure on a number of categories. The index for consumer durables dropped 5.8 percent, led by a 10.3 percent decrease in the index for automotive products, while the production of consumer nondurable goods edged up 0.1 percent. The output of business equipment moved down 0.5 percent because of a drop in the transit component. The index for defense and space equipment rose 1.7 percent in October, its 10th consecutive monthly increase. The index for construction supplies edged up 0.2 percent and business supplies moved down 0.4 percent. Within materials, the largest decline was in durable materials, which includes automotive parts.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output dropped 0.7 percent in October and was 1.7 percent below its year-earlier level. The index for durable manufacturing slid 1.3 percent in October, and the index for nondurable manufacturing edged down 0.1 percent. Other manufacturing (publishing and logging) moved up 0.5 percent.

Within durable manufacturing, the output of motor vehicles and parts posted the largest decline (10 percent). Elsewhere, decreases were also seen in the indexes for primary metals (1.7 percent) as well as furniture and related products (1.4 percent), while the largest increases were recorded by computer and electronic products (1.9 percent) as well as electrical equipment, appliances, and components (1.5 percent). Within nondurable manufacturing, gains in the indexes for petroleum and coal products (2.2 percent) and paper (0.7 percent) were offset by declines in the indexes for plastics and rubber products (2.2 percent) and chemicals (0.6 percent).

Mining output moved up 0.4 percent in October and was 2.2 percent above its year-earlier level. The index for utilities, however, dropped 1.6 percent in October but was 2.9 percent above its year-earlier level.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing moved down 0.6 percentage point to 77.2 percent in October, a rate that is 1 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2022) average. The operating rate for mining increased 0.5 percentage point to 94.3 percent, a rate that is 7.9 percentage points above its long-run average. The operating rate for utilities decreased 1.3 percentage points to 71.4 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: November 16, 2023