Industrial production was virtually unchanged in April after edging up 0.1% in March according to the Federal Reserve. The index for mining fell 0.6%, and the index for utilities rose 2.8%. Total industrial production in April was 0.4 percentage points (pp) below its year-earlier level at 102.8% of its 2017 average. Capacity utilization moved down to 78.4% in April, a rate that is 1.2 pp below its long-run (1972–2023) average.
The major market groups posted mixed results in April. The index for durable consumer goods fell 1.5%, weighed down by a 1.8% decline in the output of automotive products. By contrast, the index for nondurable consumer goods rose 0.5% in April, as a 0.9% gain in the non-energy component outweighed a 0.2% decrease in the energy component.
Manufacturing output decreased 0.3% in April after rising 0.2% in March. The index for durable manufacturing declined 0.5% in April, while the index for nondurable manufacturing edged down 0.1%. The index for other manufacturing (publishing and logging) rose 0.3%. Most industry groups within durable manufacturing posted declines such as the indexes for motor vehicles and parts (-2.0%), for electrical equipment, appliances, and components (-1.9%), and for wood products (-1.6%). Within nondurables, the output of petroleum and coal products dropped 4.4%; the other nondurable categories posted gains.
Mining output decreased 0.6% in April, largely because of an 18.1% decline in the index for coal mining. Conversely, the output of utilities increased 2.8% and the indexes for electric and natural gas utilities increased 3.1% and 1.1%, respectively.
Capacity utilization for manufacturing moved down 0.3 pp in April to 76.9%, a rate that is 1.3 pp below its long run average. The operating rate for mining fell 0.6 pp to 92.1%, 5.6 pp above its long-run average. On the other hand, the operating rate for utilities increased 1.8 pp to 71.0%, substantially below its long-run average.
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