Industrial production (IP) was little changed in April as declines in manufacturing and mining output were offset by growth in utilities output. The index for manufacturing decreased 0.4 percent after increasing 0.4 percent in March. In April, manufacturing output excluding motor vehicles and parts decreased 0.3 percent. The index for mining fell 0.3 percent, and the index for utilities rose 3.3 percent. At 103.9 percent of its 2017 average, total IP in April was 1.5 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization edged down to 77.7 percent, a rate that is 1.9 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2024) average.
The major market groups posted mixed results in April. Among consumer goods, the production of durables dropped 1.3 percent, with decreases in every major category. The production of nondurable consumer goods ticked up 0.1 percent, as a 0.9 percent decline in non-energy goods was outweighed by a 3.2 percent increase in energy goods. The indexes for business equipment and for defense and space equipment both rose modestly. Construction supplies and business supplies posted declines of 1 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. The production of non-energy materials edged down 0.1 percent, while the production of energy materials rose 0.8 percent.
Manufacturing output fell 0.4 percent in April. The production of durable goods fell 0.2 percent; most notably, within durables, the production of motor vehicles and parts declined 1.9 percent while the production of fabricated metal products increased 1 percent. The production of nondurable goods fell 0.6 percent in April, with most major categories posting declines. The index for other manufacturing (publishing and logging) dropped 2 percent.
Mining output fell 0.3 percent in April after moving up 1.1 percent in March. In April, the index for utilities gained 3.3 percent, with increases in the output of both electric and natural gas utilities
Capacity utilization for manufacturing dropped 0.4 percentage point in April to 76.8 percent, a rate that is 1.4 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2024) average. The operating rate for mining fell 0.3 percentage point to 90.2 percent, and the operating rate for utilities rose 2.1 percentage points to 71.3 percent. The rate for mining was 3.7 percentage points above its long-run average, while the rate for utilities remained substantially below its long-run average.
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