U.S Industrial Production edged up 0.1% in June for a second straight month, missing market expectations for a 0.2% gain.
On an annual basis, production increased 1.1% after a downwardly revised 1.6% gain in May (from initial 1.7%).
The Federal Reserve’s latest Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report, issued July 17, showed that manufacturing output was flat during June for a second straight month after a 0.7% jump in April, and was up 1.1% year-over-year.
The June indexes for mining increased 0.4% MoM (+1.1% in May) and utilities output likewise improved 0.4% (-0.7% in May).
Meanwhile, U.S. industrial capacity utilization was unchanged at 76.1% as May’s figure was revised down (by 0.1 point) — with that rate 3.2 percentage points below its long-run (1972-2025) average.
U.S. Industrial Production: Month-Over-Month
U.S. Industrial Production: Year-Over-Year
Market Groups
The major market groups posted mixed results in June. The output of consumer goods stepped up 0.3%, reflecting increases in the indexes for both durable and nondurable consumer goods. The output of business equipment decreased 0.4%, with declines in the indexes for information processing and for industrial and other equipment more than offsetting an increase in the index for transit equipment. The output of defense and space equipment stepped up 0.2%, while production of construction supplies declined 0.4%. The index for business supplies was unchanged, while the index for materials ticked up 0.1%.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing output was unchanged in June, with a decrease of 0.1% in the index for durable manufacturing offsetting an increase of 0.2% in the index for nondurable manufacturing. Within durables, more industry groups posted losses than gains, with the indexes for wood products, for nonmetallic mineral products, for machinery, and for electrical equipment, appliances, and components each declining more than 0.5%. The uptick in nondurable manufacturing output was led by a 2.1% increase in the production of petroleum and coal products.
Mining output rose 0.4% in June after moving up in both April and May. The index for utilities rose 0.4% in June, with an increase in the index for electric utilities more than offsetting a drop in the index for natural gas utilities. In the second quarter, mining output grew at an annual rate of 7.5%, while utilities output declined at an annual rate of 2.8%.
Capacity utilization for manufacturing edged down 0.1 percentage point to 75.7% in June, which is 2.5 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2025) average. The operating rate for mining rose 0.4 percentage point to 87.4%, and the operating rate for utilities edged up 0.2 percentage point to 69.5%. The utilization rate for mining was 2.2 percentage points above its long-run average, while the rate for utilities remained substantially below its long-run average.
