Industrial Production and capacity utilization - 9:15am

Full report here INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION Industrial production increased 0.5 percent in July. Aside from a hurricane-related rebound in October 2008, the gain in July marked the first monthly increase since December 2007. Manufacturing output advanced 1.0 percent in July; most of the increase was due to a jump in motor vehicle assemblies from an annual rate of 4.1 million units in June to 5.9 million units in July. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, manufacturing production edged up 0.2 percent. The output of utilities fell 2.4 percent, reflecting unseasonably mild temperatures in July, and the output of mines increased 0.8 percent. At 96.0 percent of its 2002 average, total industrial production was 13.1 percent below its level of a year earlier. In July, the capacity utilization rate for total industry edged up to 68.5 percent, a level 12.4 percentage points below its 1972-2008 average. Market Groups The production of consumer goods rose 0.6 percent in July, as an increase of 7.4 percent in consumer durables more than offset a decrease of 0.9 percent in nondurable consumer goods. The output of consumer durables was boosted by a 17.4 percent increase in the production of automotive products. The indexes for home electronics and for appliances, furniture, and carpeting were little changed, while the index for miscellaneous goods increased 0.8 percent. The decline in nondurable consumer goods was led by a drop of 2.7 percent in the index for consumer energy products. Non-energy consumer nondurable goods declined 0.4 percent; the indexes for foods and tobacco and for chemical products decreased, while the indexes for clothing and for paper products edged up. The output of business equipment moved up 0.5 percent in July, the first increase for this category this year. The output of transit equipment increased 4.6 percent as a result of the sharp rise in motor vehicle output and a rise in the production of civilian aircraft. The index for industrial and other equipment decreased 0.5 percent, after having fallen at an average rate of 1.7 percent per month in the second quarter; the index for information processing equipment edged lower. The output of defense and space equipment rose 0.6 percent. Among nonindustrial supplies, the production of construction supplies edged down 0.1 percent in July, its third consecutive mild decline after sharp decreases over the previous nine months. The index of business supplies moved down 0.3 percent. Materials output rose 0.8 percent in July. A gain of 1.2 percent in the index for non-energy materials more than offset a decline of 0.3 percent in the index for energy materials. Within non-energy materials, the index for durable materials advanced 2.0 percent. Consumer parts rose sharply, led by a brisk advance in the output of motor vehicle parts; the indexes for equipment parts and for other durable materials also moved up. The production of nondurable materials gained 0.3 percent; the output of paper materials and of chemical materials increased, while the output of textile materials fell 2.7 percent. Industry Groups Manufacturing output increased 1.0 percent in July but remained 14.4 percent lower than its year-earlier level. The factory operating rate rose to 65.4 percent in July, 0.7 percentage point above the historical low recorded in June; the series begins in 1948. Production in durable goods industries advanced 2.2 percent in July. In addition to the sharp increase in motor vehicles and parts output, large production gains occurred for nonmetallic mineral products and for primary metals. The indexes for wood products, computer and electronic products, aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment, furniture and related products, and miscellaneous goods also rose. The indexes for fabricated metal products, machinery, and electrical equipment declined. The production of nondurable goods fell 0.1 percent in July. The indexes for textile and product mills and for printing and support recorded sizable declines; the indexes for food, beverages, and tobacco and for petroleum and coal products also declined. The output of paper, of chemicals, and of plastic and rubber products increased. The index for other manufacturing (non-NAICS), which consists of publishing and logging, was down 0.6 percent in July. The output of electric and gas utilities decreased 2.4 percent, and the operating rate for utilities dropped 2.1 percentage points, to 77.6 percent. Mining production moved up 0.8 percent; its utilization rate in July, at 81.7 percent, was 5.9 percentage points below its 1972-2008 average. Capacity utilization rates at industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: For the crude stage, utilization moved up 1.0 percentage point, to 78.8 percent, a rate 7.8 percentage points below its 1972-2008 average; for the primary and semifinished stages, utilization ticked down 0.1 percentage point, to 65.9 percent, a rate 16.1 percentage points below its long-run average; and for the finished stage, utilization moved up 0.8 percentage point, to 67.2 percent, a rate 10.5 percentage points 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. More at link with tables I cannot format.