Industrial production edged up 0.1 percent in June after having risen 1.3 percent in May, the Federal Reserve Bank reported on July 15. The rate of change for March was revised up, and the rate of change for April was revised down; these revisions resulted primarily from the incorporation of new information on the output of utilities. For the second quarter as a whole, total industrial production increased at an annual rate of 6.6 percent. Manufacturing output moved down 0.4 percent in June after three months of gains at or near 1 percent. The output of mines rose 0.4 percent. The output of utilities increased 2.7 percent, as temperatures moved further above seasonal norms. At 92.5 percent of its 2007 average, total industrial production in June was 8.2 percent above its year-earlier level. The capacity utilization rate for total industry remained unchanged in June at 74.1 percent, a rate 5.9 percentage points above the rate from a year earlier but 6.5 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2009.
|
Industrial production |
2007=100 | Percent change | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2010 |
June '09 to June '10 |
|||||||||||
| Jan.[r] | Feb.[r] | Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[p] | Jan.[r] | Feb.[r] | Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[p] | ||
| Total index | 90.5 | 90.4 | 91.0 | 91.2 | 92.5 | 92.5 | 1.0 | .0 | .6 | .3 | 1.3 | .1 | 8.2 |
| Previous estimates | 90.5 | 90.5 | 90.8 | 91.4 | 92.6 | 1.0 | .0 | .3 | .6 | 1.3 | |||
| Major market groups | |||||||||||||
| Final Products | 92.4 | 92.0 | 92.8 | 92.7 | 94.2 | 94.0 | 1.3 | -.4 | .8 | -.1 | 1.6 | -.2 | 8.2 |
| Consumer goods | 93.7 | 93.0 | 93.4 | 92.6 | 94.4 | 93.9 | 1.2 | -.7 | .5 | -.9 | 1.9 | -.6 | 6.8 |
| Business equipment | 88.6 | 88.5 | 89.4 | 91.0 | 92.3 | 93.1 | 1.3 | -.1 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 1.4 | .9 | 11.3 |
| Nonindustrial supplies | 83.4 | 82.8 | 83.4 | 84.0 | 85.4 | 85.3 | .3 | -.7 | .7 | .8 | 1.6 | -.1 | 4.0 |
| Construction | 74.8 | 74.5 | 76.1 | 79.0 | 79.3 | 79.1 | 1.5 | -.4 | 2.2 | 3.8 | .3 | -.3 | 5.2 |
| Materials | 91.2 | 91.7 | 92.0 | 92.5 | 93.4 | 93.8 | 1.0 | .5 | .3 | .6 | 1.0 | .4 | 9.8 |
| Major industry groups | |||||||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 87.8 | 87.5 | 88.4 | 89.1 | 90.0 | 89.6 | .9 | -.3 | 1.0 | .8 | 1.0 | -.4 | 8.3 |
| Previous estimates | 87.8 | 87.6 | 88.5 | 89.2 | 90.2 | .9 | -.2 | 1.1 | .8 | 1.1 | |||
| Mining | 96.5 | 97.4 | 99.1 | 100.8 | 100.5 | 100.9 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 | -.3 | .4 | 8.5 |
| Utilities | 102.1 | 102.6 | 99.0 | 94.7 | 99.9 | 102.7 | .8 | .5 | -3.4 | -4.4 | 5.6 | 2.7 | 7.1 |
|
Capacity utilization |
Percent of capacity |
Capacity growth |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Average 1972- 2009 |
1988- 89 high |
1990- 91 low |
1994- 95 high |
2008- 09 low |
2009 June |
||||||||
| 2010 |
June '09 to June '10 |
||||||||||||
| Jan.[r] | Feb.[r] | Mar.[r] | Apr.[r] | May[r] | June[p] | ||||||||
| Total industry | 80.6 | 85.2 | 78.7 | 85.1 | 68.2 | 68.2 | 72.3 | 72.3 | 72.8 | 73.1 | 74.1 | 74.1 | -.5 |
| Previous estimates | 72.3 | 72.4 | 72.7 | 73.1 | 74.1 | ||||||||
| Manufacturing (see note below) | 79.2 | 85.6 | 77.2 | 84.6 | 65.4 | 65.4 | 69.8 | 69.7 | 70.4 | 70.9 | 71.7 | 71.4 | -.8 |
| Previous estimates | 69.8 | 69.7 | 70.5 | 71.1 | 71.9 | ||||||||
| Mining | 87.4 | 86.4 | 83.6 | 88.9 | 79.6 | 79.6 | 82.2 | 83.1 | 84.5 | 86.0 | 85.8 | 86.1 | .3 |
| Utilities | 86.7 | 92.9 | 84.3 | 93.3 | 77.6 | 78.6 | 82.4 | 82.6 | 79.7 | 76.1 | 80.2 | 82.3 | 2.3 |
| Stage-of-process groups | |||||||||||||
| Crude | 86.5 | 87.8 | 84.2 | 90.0 | 78.3 | 78.3 | 82.6 | 83.1 | 84.1 | 85.1 | 84.6 | 85.0 | -.3 |
| Primary and semifinished | 81.6 | 86.6 | 77.9 | 87.9 | 65.7 | 65.7 | 69.7 | 69.8 | 69.9 | 69.9 | 71.6 | 72.1 | -.8 |
| Finished | 77.5 | 83.4 | 77.3 | 80.5 | 67.5 | 67.5 | 72.0 | 71.6 | 72.3 | 72.5 | 73.2 | 72.6 | .0 |
r Revised. p Preliminary.
Market Groups
The major market groups recorded a mix of gains and losses in June; however, output for the second quarter as a whole was higher than in the first quarter for almost every major market group. For June, the production of consumer goods moved down 0.6 percent, with declines for both durables and nondurables. The output of consumer durables decreased 1.2 percent: Lower production of automotive products; appliances, furniture, and carpeting; and miscellaneous goods more than offset a gain in home electronics. The production of consumer nondurable goods decreased 0.4 percent. The output of non-energy nondurables fell 1.5 percent; all of the major categories for that index recorded declines except clothing. The output of consumer energy products moved up 3.5 percent as the output of residential utilities increased noticeably. For the second quarter as a whole, the production of consumer goods increased at an annual rate of 1.0 percent, as a rise in durables more than offset a decline in nondurables.
The output of business equipment rose 0.9 percent in June and jumped at an annual rate of 15.7 percent for the second quarter as a whole--the largest quarterly increase for this category since 2005. Within business equipment, the production of transit equipment advanced 2.2 percent in June but was little changed for the quarter as a whole. Elsewhere in business equipment, the index for industrial and other equipment rose 1.0 percent in June and at a robust annual rate of 22 percent for the second quarter overall. The index for information processing edged down in June after having moved up substantially since the middle of last year; it increased at an annual rate of 14.7 percent in the second quarter.
In June, the output of defense and space equipment moved up as production resumed at a factory producing military cargo planes following a strike. The output of construction supplies dipped 0.3 percent in June after three consecutive months of gains but rose at an annual rate of about 23 percent in the second quarter. The production of business supplies was unchanged in June after a noticeable increase in May.
The output of materials to be further processed in the industrial sector increased 0.4 percent in June, with mixed results among its major categories. The output of durable materials edged up 0.2 percent despite a decrease in consumer parts. The index for nondurable materials fell 0.5 percent, with declines in all of its major categories. A gain in utilities output helped push the index for energy materials up 1.1 percent. For the second quarter as a whole, materials output increased at an annual rate of 7.2 percent. The production of durable materials rose 17.0 percent in the second quarter, with solid gains in consumer parts, equipment parts, and other durable materials. By contrast, the output of nondurable materials moved down 1.7 percent, with a decline in chemical materials offsetting gains in paper materials and textile materials. The index for energy materials rose 4.2 percent.
Industry Groups
In June, manufacturing output fell 0.4 percent after moving up for three consecutive months. The manufacturing index increased at an annual rate of 7.9 percent for the second quarter as a whole, a gain similar to the average quarterly increase since production turned up in the third quarter of 2009. Capacity utilization for manufacturing moved down 0.3 percentage point in June to 71.4 percent, a rate 6.0 percentage points above its trough in June 2009 but 7.8 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2009.
The production index for durable goods manufacturing edged up 0.1 percent in June. Among its major categories, the largest increases were in primary metals and machinery, whereas the largest decreases were recorded in wood products, motor vehicles and parts, and miscellaneous manufacturing. For the second quarter as a whole, durable manufacturing increased at an annual rate of 14.1 percent, with sizable gains recorded in every major category except aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment.
The index for nondurable manufacturing decreased 0.7 percent in June; lower production in most nondurable categories more than offset gains in apparel and leather, petroleum and coal products, and plastics and rubber products. For the second quarter as a whole, nondurables output moved up at an annual rate of 2.2 percent. Production in the non-NAICS manufacturing industries (logging and publishing) fell 2.1 percent in June.
In June, unseasonably warm temperatures led to an increase in production of utilities and boosted its operating rate to 82.3 percent. Even so, that rate was 4.4 percentage points below its 1972-2009 average. The increase in mining output was primarily the result of gains in coal mining, natural gas extraction, and metal mining. Capacity utilization in mining edged up to 86.1 percent, a rate 1.3 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2009.
Capacity utilization rates in June at industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: At the crude stage, utilization increased 0.4 percentage point to 85.0 percent, a rate 1.5 percentage points below its average for the period from 1972 to 2009; at the primary and semifinished stages, utilization rose 0.5 percentage point to 72.1 percent, a rate 9.5 percentage points below its long-run average; and at the finished stage, utilization decreased 0.6 percentage point to 72.6 percent, a rate 4.9 percentage points below its long-run average.
