by Calculated Risk on 4/16/2025 09:15:00 AM
From the Fed: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
Industrial production (IP) decreased 0.3 percent in March but increased at an annual rate of 5.5 percent in the first quarter. The March decline was led by a 5.8 percent drop in the index for utilities, as temperatures were warmer than is typical for the month. In contrast, the indexes for manufacturing and mining grew 0.3 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. At 103.9 percent of its 2017 average, total IP in March was 1.3 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization stepped down to 77.8 percent, a rate that is 1.8 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2024) average.
emphasis added
Click on graph for larger image.
This graph shows Capacity Utilization. This series is up from the record low set in April 2020, and close to the level in February 2020 (pre-pandemic).
Capacity utilization at 77.8% is 1.8% below the average from 1972 to 2023. This was below consensus expectations.
Note: y-axis doesn’t start at zero to better show the change.
The second graph shows industrial production since 1967.
Industrial production decreased to 103.9. This is above the pre-pandemic level.
Industrial production was at consensus expectations.
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