Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17

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Release Date: December 15, 2023

In November, industrial production increased 0.2 percent, and manufacturing output rose 0.3 percent. The increase in manufacturing output was more than accounted for by a 7.1 percent bounceback in motor vehicles and parts production following the resolution of strikes at several major automakers. The index for manufacturing excluding motor vehicles and parts decreased 0.2 percent. The output of utilities moved down 0.4 percent, and the output of mines moved up 0.3 percent. Total industrial production in November was 0.4 percent below its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization moved up 0.1 percentage point to 78.8 percent in November, a rate that is 0.9 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 Nov. '22 to
Nov. '23
June[r] July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[p] June[r] July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[p]
       
Total index 102.3 103.2 103.2 103.3 102.4 102.7 -.6 .9 .0 .1 -.9 .2 -.4
Previous estimates 102.3 103.3 103.3 103.4 102.7   -.6 .9 .0 .1 -.6    
       
Major market groups
Final Products 100.6 101.8 101.9 101.5 100.8 101.0 -1.1 1.2 .1 -.4 -.8 .3 -1.2
Consumer goods 101.1 102.4 102.5 102.3 101.4 101.4 -1.6 1.3 .2 -.2 -.9 .1 -1.6
Business equipment 96.1 97.0 97.0 96.0 95.2 96.1 -.1 .9 .0 -1.1 -.8 .9 -1.5
Nonindustrial supplies 99.8 100.0 100.1 100.3 99.9 99.9 -.2 .2 .1 .2 -.4 .0 -2.2
Construction 101.2 101.1 100.4 101.2 100.6 100.6 -.5 -.1 -.8 .8 -.5 .0 -2.3
Materials 104.6 105.5 105.4 105.9 104.7 105.0 -.3 .9 -.2 .5 -1.2 .3 .9
       
Major industry groups
Manufacturing (see note below) 99.1 99.5 99.5 99.6 98.8 99.2 -.7 .4 .0 .1 -.8 .3 -.8
Previous estimates 99.1 99.5 99.5 99.7 99.0   -.7 .4 .0 .2 -.7    
Mining 119.1 120.0 119.2 120.2 118.8 119.2 .6 .7 -.7 .9 -1.1 .3 2.3
Utilities 102.0 107.0 107.7 106.7 105.2 104.8 -1.6 4.8 .7 -.9 -1.4 -.4 -1.0

Capacity utilization Percent of capacity Capacity
growth
Average
1972-
2022 		1988-
89
high 		1990-
91
low 		1994-
95
high 		 
2009
low 		 
2022
Nov. 		   
2023 Nov. '22 to
Nov. '23
June[r] July[r] Aug.[r] Sept.[r] Oct.[r] Nov.[p]
       
Total industry 79.7 85.2 78.8 85.0 66.6 80.3 78.9 79.6 79.5 79.5 78.7 78.8 1.5
Previous estimates             78.9 79.6 79.5 79.5 78.9    
       
Manufacturing (see note below) 78.2 85.6 77.3 84.6 63.4 78.9 77.6 77.8 77.7 77.7 77.0 77.2 1.3
Previous estimates             77.6 77.8 77.7 77.8 77.2    
Mining 86.4 86.3 84.3 88.6 78.9 91.3 93.3 94.0 93.5 94.4 93.4 93.7 -.4
Utilities 84.7 93.2 84.7 93.2 78.1 74.0 69.9 73.0 73.3 72.5 71.3 70.8 3.5
       
Stage-of-process groups
Crude 85.6 87.9 84.8 90.0 76.9 89.1 90.9 91.4 91.1 92.1 91.2 91.7 -.4
Primary and semifinished 80.2 86.5 78.0 87.8 63.6 78.6 76.3 77.1 77.2 77.2 76.5 76.4 1.4
Finished 76.7 83.4 77.5 80.7 66.3 77.4 76.1 76.6 76.3 75.9 75.1 75.3 2.2
[r] Revised. [p] Preliminary.

Market Groups

The output of major market groups was mixed in November, with the rebound in motor vehicles contributing to most areas of strength. A 7.5 percent increase in the index for automotive products contributed to a gain of 3.5 percent in consumer durables, while the production of consumer nondurable goods decreased 0.8 percent. The output of business equipment moved up 0.9 percent primarily because of an increase in the index for transit equipment. Defense and space equipment registered a gain of 1.2 percent. The indexes for construction supplies and for business supplies were unchanged relative to October. An increase of 0.3 percent in materials output was buoyed by a large increase in the index for consumer parts (2.7 percent) as motor vehicle parts production also rebounded in November.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output moved up 0.3 percent in November and was 0.8 percent below its year-earlier level. The index for durable manufacturing rose 1.2 percent in November, and the index for nondurable manufacturing declined 0.5 percent. Other manufacturing (publishing and logging) slid 0.7 percent.

Within durable manufacturing, the output of motor vehicles and parts rebounded 7.1 percent after a strike-induced drop of 9.9 percent in October. Elsewhere in durable manufacturing, increases of around 1.0 percent were seen in the indexes for computer and electronic products as well as for aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment. Decreases of around 1.0 percent occurred in the indexes for wood products and for miscellaneous. Within nondurable manufacturing, the only increase was seen in the index for printing and support (0.2 percent). The remaining categories receded, with the largest declines observed in the indexes for textile and product mills (1.9 percent) and for apparel and leather (3.4 percent).

Mining output moved up 0.3 percent in November and was 2.3 percent above its year-earlier level. The index for utilities stepped down 0.4 percent in November and was 1.0 percent below its year-earlier level.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing edged up 0.2 percentage point to 77.2 percent in November, a rate that is 1.0 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2022) average. The operating rate for mining rose 0.3 percentage point to 93.7 percent, a rate that is 7.3 percentage points above its long-run average. The operating rate for utilities moved down 0.5 percentage point to 70.8 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: December 15, 2023