Industrial production increased 0.7% in February after moving up 0.3% in January. Manufacturing output rose 0.9%, boosted by a jump of 8.5% in the index for motor vehicles and parts. The output of manufacturing excluding motor vehicles and parts increased 0.4%. The index for mining gained 2.8%, and the index for utilities decreased 2.5%. At 104.2% of its 2017 average, total IP in February was 1.4% above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization stepped up to 78.2%, a rate that is 1.4 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2024) average.
Most market groups posted gains in February. The output of consumer goods gained 0.2%, as a 4.3% increase in the production of durable consumer goods outweighed a decline of 0.8% in the production of nondurable consumer goods. The output of business equipment grew 1.6%, with transit equipment jumping 7.9%. Construction supplies posted a gain of 1.0%, and the index for business supplies inched down 0.1% in February. The output of materials rose 1.0%, with gains in all categories.
Manufacturing output rose 0.9% in February. The durable manufacturing index increased 1.6%; while the growth of durables output was led by the index for motor vehicles and parts, gains were also seen in most other categories of durable manufacturing. The nondurable manufacturing index stepped up 0.2%, with growth in chemicals offsetting a decline in food, beverage, and tobacco products. The index for other manufacturing (publishing and logging) decreased 0.1%.
Mining output grew 2.8% in February after falling 3.2% in January. The index for utilities decreased 2.5%, as the output for electric utilities and for natural gas utilities decreased 1.2% and 11.1%, respectively.
Capacity utilization for manufacturing increased 0.6 percentage point in February to 77.0%, a rate that is 1.2 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2024) average. The operating rate for mining rose 2.4 percentage points to 90.3%, and the operating rate for utilities moved down 2.2 percentage points to 73.9%. The rate for mining was 3.8 percentage points above its long-run average, while the rate for utilities remained substantially below its long-run average.
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