EmailEconomic
Last Update: 06-Dec-18 18:15 ET
Industrial Production
Highlights
- Industrial production increased 0.1% in October (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%) following a downwardly revised 0.2% increase (from +0.3%) in September.
- The capacity utilization rate dipped to 78.4% from an upwardly revised 78.5% (from 78.1%) in September, which was the highest rate since January 2015.
Key Factors
- Manufacturing output increased 0.3% after increasing an upwardly revised 0.3% increase (from 0.2%) in September.
- Motor vehicle assemblies declined 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 11.08 million units.
- Mining output declined 0.3% after declining 0.1% in September. Utilities output, driven by a decrease for electric utilities, fell 0.5% after declining 0.1% in September.
- On a year-over-year basis, industrial production was up 4.1% while capacity growth was up 1.9%. The capacity utilization rate of 78.4% is 1.4 percentage points below its long-run average.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that manufacturing output increased for the fifth straight month despite a big drop in motor vehicle assemblies, which underscores solid activity otherwise for the manufacturing base.
| Category | OCT | SEP | AUG | JUL | JUN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Production | |||||
| Total Index | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.8% | 0.4% | 0.6% |
| Manufacturing | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.7% |
| Utilities | -0.5% | -0.1% | 1.1% | 0.1% | -1.6% |
| Mining | -0.3% | -0.1% | 2.4% | 0.9% | 1.8% |
| Capacity Utilization | |||||
| Total Industry | 78.4% | 78.5% | 78.5% | 78.0% | 77.8% |
| Manufacturing | 76.2% | 76.1% | 75.9% | 75.7% | 75.5% |
