Industrial production jumped 1.2% in May; capacity utilization rose 1.0%

Industrial production advanced 1.2 percent in May after having risen 0.7 percent in April, the Federal Reserve Bank announced on June 16. Manufacturing output climbed 0.9 percent last month, its third consecutive monthly gain of about 1 percent, and was 7.9 percent above its year-earlier level. Outside of manufacturing, the output of mines edged down 0.2 percent, and the output of utilities increased 4.8 percent. The jump in utilities reflected unseasonably warm temperatures that boosted air conditioning usage in May after uncharacteristically temperate weather in April reduced heating demand. At 103.5 percent of its 2002 average, total industrial output in May was 7.6 percent above its year-earlier level. The capacity utilization rate for total industry rose 1.0 percentage point to 74.7 percent, a rate 6.2 percentage points above the rate from a year earlier but 5.9 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2009.

r Revised. p Preliminary.

Market Groups
The output of nearly all major market groups rose in May. The production of consumer goods increased 1.2 percent, boosted by higher output of both consumer durables and nondurables. Within consumer durables, which jumped 2.6 percent, large gains in the indexes for automotive products, home electronics, and miscellaneous goods were only slightly offset by a small loss in the index for appliances, furniture, and carpeting. The production of consumer non-durable goods moved up 0.8 percent. The output of non-energy nondurables rose 0.5 percent; all of the major categories for that index recorded increases except chemical products, which fell 1.1 percent. The output of consumer energy products moved up 1.6 percent, with gains in all of its components other than automotive gasoline, which fell sharply.

The output of business equipment rose 1.3 percent in May, a pace on par with the average monthly gain during the previous two months and somewhat above its average increase earlier in the recovery. The output of transit equipment climbed 2.5 percent following a decrease of 1.6 percent in April. The increase in May primarily resulted from higher output of trucks, which more than offset losses in civilian aircraft. Elsewhere in business equipment, the index for information processing equipment rose 0.9 percent, and the index for industrial and other equipment increased 1.2 percent. The output indexes for both of these categories have advanced substantially since last fall; gains in semiconductor manufacturing equipment and construction machinery have contributed significantly to the improvement in the industrial and other equipment category.

In May, the output of defense and space equipment moved down after four consecutive monthly increases. A strike at a producer of military cargo planes accounted for the loss.

Within nonindustrial supplies, the output of construction supplies increased 0.8 percent in May after two consecutive months of larger gains. The production of business supplies rose 1.7 percent in May, the second consecutive monthly increase after declining earlier in the year.

The output of materials to be further processed in the industrial sector increased 1.3 percent in May after having risen about 0.6 percent per month since the beginning of the year; the index in May was 9.2 percent above its year-earlier level. The production of durable materials climbed 2.0 percent, with widespread solid gains within consumer parts, equipment parts, and other durable materials. By contrast, the output of nondurable materials was unchanged in May, with a decline in chemical materials offsetting a small gain in paper materials and strong gains in both textile materials and other nondurable materials. The index for energy materials climbed 1.8 percent in May; most of its components advanced, with the notable exception of coal mining, which fell 5.9 percent.

Industry Groups 
Manufacturing output rose 0.9 percent in May, the same pace as in April. Capacity utilization for manufacturing moved up 0.7 percentage point to 71.5 percent, a rate 6.4 percentage points above its trough in June 2009, but 7.7 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2009.

The production index for durable goods advanced 1.7 percent in May; most major categories of durables strengthened. Sizable gains were recorded for wood products, primary metals, fabricated metal products, machinery, motor vehicles and parts, and furniture and related products.

The index for nondurable manufacturing was unchanged in May. Losses in chemicals, petroleum and coal products, and apparel and leather offset increases elsewhere. The largest gains among the major categories of nondurables were for printing and support, which advanced 1.7 percent, and for textile and product mills, which increased 1.4 percent. Production in the non-NAICS manufacturing industries (logging and publishing) rose 1.8 percent.

In May, mining output edged down 0.2 percent, and capacity utilization edged down to 90.6 percent, a rate 3.1 percentage points above its average for the period from 1972 to 2009. The small loss in mining production mainly reflected declines in coal mining and in stone, sand, and gravel quarrying. The output of utilities climbed 4.8 percent, and capacity utilization for utilities increased 3.7 percentage points to 81.0 percent, a rate 5.6 percentage points below its average for the period from 1972 to 2009.

Capacity utilization rates in May at industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: At the crude stage, utilization decreased 0.3 percentage point to 88.1 percent, a rate 1.6 percentage points above its average for the period from 1972 to 2009; at the primary and semifinished stages, utilization rose 1.6 percentage points to 71.9 percent, a rate 9.7 percentage points below its long-run average; and at the finished stage, utilization increased 0.6 percentage point to 72.4 percent, a rate 5.1 percentage points below its long-run average.