Industrial production increased 0.1% in May after increasing 0.9% in April. In May, manufacturing output was unchanged, the index for mining rose 1.3%, and utilities decreased 0.4%. Manufacturing output excluding motor vehicles and parts increased 0.3%. At 102.6% of its 2017 average, total industrial production in May was 1.7% above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization moved up to 76.2%, a rate that is 3.2% percentage points (pp) below its long-run (1972–2025) average.
The major market groups posted mixed results in May. The production of consumer goods declined 0.5%, with a 0.8% fall in nondurable consumer goods more than offsetting a 0.5% increase in durable consumer goods. The index for business equipment rose 0.6%, led by a gain of 1.9% in transit equipment. The output of defense and space equipment rose 0.9%, the output of construction supplies moved up 1.1%, and the output of business supplies was unchanged. The index for materials moved up 0.3%, led by increases in the output of durable materials and energy materials, while the output of nondurable materials, excluding energy, declined
Manufacturing output unchanged in May after edging up 0.6% in April. The production of durables increased 0.8% in May, with gains in almost all categories. Within durables, production for wood products, nonmetallic mineral products, primary metals, and motor vehicles and parts each increased more than 1.0%. Nondurable manufacturing production fell 0.9%, with declines in almost all categories.
Mining output grew 1.3% in May after edging down 0.1% in April. The output of utilities fell 0.4% in May, with a decline of 1.7% in electric utilities more than offsetting an increase of 8.5% in natural gas utilities.
Capacity utilization for manufacturing was unchanged in May, at 75.7%, which is 2.5 pp below its long-run (1972–2025) average. The operating rate for mining increased 1.2 pp to 86.5%, and the operating rate for utilities moved down 0.4 pp to 70.6%. The utilization rates for mining was 1.3 pp above its long-run average, while the rate for utilities was 13.4 pp below its long-run average.
Read the Fed release.
