by calculated risk March 15, 2024 09:15:00 AM
From the Fed: Industrial production and capacity utilization
Industrial production increased slightly by 0.1% in February After falling 0.5% in January, manufacturing output rose 0.8% in February, and the mining index rose 2.2%. Both gains partially reflect a recovery from January's weather-related decline. The utility index fell 7.5% in February due to higher-than-normal temperatures. Total industrial production in February was 102.3% of the 2017 average, down 0.2% from the same month last year. The capacity utilization rate in the industrial sector remained at 78.3% in February, 1.3 percentage points below the long-term (1972-2023) average.
Emphasis added
This graph shows capacity utilization. The series is up from its all-time low recorded in April 2020 and is above its February 2020 (pre-pandemic) level.
Capacity utilization was 78.3%, 1.3% below the 1972-2022 average. This was below consensus expectations.
Note: To better illustrate the changes, the Y-axis does not start at zero.