EconoIndicators

Industrial Production At a Glance

• Industrial Production Index: 111.8
• (Base year 2002, Seasonally Adjusted)
• Monthly Change: Up 0.2%
• Manufacturing Change: Up 0.4%
• Mining Change: Up 0.9%
• Utilities Change: Down 1.9%
• Capacity Utilization: 79.9%
• Long Run Average Capacity Utilization: 81%

Technorati Tags: industrial, production, capacity, utilization, manufacturing, mining, utilities

FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE

August 15, 2008

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

Industrial production increased 0.2 percent in July after having advanced 0.4 percent in June.
Manufacturing output gained 0.4 percent in July and was boosted by a rise of 3.6 percent in the production
of motor vehicles and parts. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, the index for manufacturing increased 0.2
percent. The output of mines moved up 0.9 percent, while the output of utilities contracted 1.9 percent.
At 111.8 percent of its 2002 average, total industrial production was 0.1 percent below its level of a year
earlier. In July, the capacity utilization rate for total industry edged up to 79.9 percent, a level 1.1
percentage points below its average for 1972-2007.

Market Groups
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The production of consumer goods increased 0.3 percent in July. The output of durable consumer goods rose
1.0 percent; an increase of 2.5 percent in the index for automotive products was partly offset by drops in
the indexes for appliances, furniture, and carpeting and for home electronics. The index for miscellaneous
consumer goods was unchanged. The production of nondurable consumer goods edged up 0.1 percent in July;
the increase reflected a rise in the output of consumer energy goods, particularly gasoline. Non-energy
nondurable consumer goods declined 0.2 percent; lower indexes for foods and tobacco, clothing, and paper
products more than offset an increase in the output of chemical products.

The output of business equipment climbed 0.8 percent in July. Production of transit equipment jumped 2.8
percent, and the output of industrial and other equipment rose 0.6 percent, an increase that reversed its
June decline. The index for information processing and related equipment slipped 0.2 percent. The output
of defense and space equipment gained 0.6 percent.

The production of construction supplies increased 0.3 percent. On net, the output of construction
supplies advanced over the past three months; its average monthly decrease over the preceding nine months
had been about 0.7 percent. The index for business supplies fell 0.5 percent in July.

Materials output moved up 0.3 percent in July following a similarly sized increase in June. The
production of durable materials advanced 0.6 percent, and gains were widespread across its components.
Consumer parts showed the largest advance, 2.1 percent, as the output of motor vehicle parts rose markedly.
The production of nondurable materials edged down 0.1 percent, with declines in textile materials and paper
materials partly offset by an increase in chemical materials. The index for energy materials rose 0.2
percent.

Industry Groups
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Production in manufacturing advanced 0.4 percent in July. The factory operating rate increased to 77.7
percent, a level 2.0 percentage points below its 1972-2007 average. The production of durable goods rose
0.6 percent, and gains were widespread. The largest increase in July was for motor vehicles and parts,
which advanced for a third consecutive month; nevertheless, this index remained 10.4 percent below its
year-earlier level. The only durable goods industries to have registered declines in July were wood
products, fabricated metal products, and furniture and related products. The output of nondurable goods
rose 0.3 percent. Declines in the indexes for food, beverage, and tobacco products; textile and product
mills; apparel and leather products; paper; and printing and support were more than offset by higher output
of petroleum and coal products, chemicals, and plastics and rubber products.

The index for non-NAICS manufacturing industries (logging and publishing) fell 1.3 percent. Production in
publishing has fallen nearly 7 percent in the past 12 months.

The output of electric and gas utilities dropped 1.9 percent in July, and the operating rate for utilities
decreased 1.8 percentage points, to 84.4 percent, a rate 2.4 percentage points below its 1972-2007 average.
Mining production increased 0.9 percent. Capacity utilization for mining rose to 92.1 percent, a rate just
above the peak attained in 2000-01 and just below the peak in January 1998. Within mining, the rate of
capacity utilization in oil and gas extraction was particularly high.

Capacity utilization rates at industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: For the crude
stage, utilization rose 0.7 percentage point, to 90.1 percent, a rate 3.5 percentage points above its
1972-2007 average; for the primary and semifinished stages, utilization moved down 0.3 percentage point, to
79.5 percent, a rate 2.7 percentage points below its long-run average; and for the finished stage,
utilization increased 0.3 percentage point, to 76.4 percent, a rate 1.3 percentage points below its
long-run average.

Industrial Production G.17 - July 2008 [PDF]

Industrial Production G.17 - July 2008 [Text]

Source: Federal Reserve Board