U.S. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION DOWN
U.S. FRB - Industrial production declined 0.2 percent in July. Manufacturing output decreased 0.4 percent last month and has fallen more than 1-1/2 percent since December 2018. In July, mining output fell 1.8 percent, as Hurricane Barry caused a sharp but temporary decline in oil extraction in the Gulf of Mexico. The index for utilities rose 3.1 percent. At 109.2 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 0.5 percent higher in July than it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector decreased 0.3 percentage point in July to 77.5 percent, a rate that is 2.3 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2018) average.
Market Groups
The indexes for consumer goods and for defense and space equipment both increased in July, but the other major market groups posted declines. The production of construction supplies fell 1.0 percent, while the indexes for materials, business equipment, and business supplies each decreased less than 1/2 percent. The weakness for materials reflected cutbacks for all of its major components. The advance for consumer goods primarily resulted from a large gain for consumer energy products and from a smaller increase for automotive products.
Industry Groups
Manufacturing output declined 0.4 percent in July, with durables, nondurables, and other manufacturing (publishing and logging) all posting decreases. Production fell for most major durable goods categories. The largest declines were recorded by wood products, machinery, and nonmetallic mineral products, while the only sizable gain was registered by aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment. Paper products posted the only increase among nondurables; the indexes for textile and product mills, for printing and support, and for plastics and rubber products each fell 1.0 percent or more.
The output of utilities rose 3.1 percent in July after having fallen a similar amount in June. Despite declining 1.8 percent in July, the index for mining was 5.5 percent above its year-earlier level.
Capacity utilization for manufacturing declined 0.4 percentage point in July to 75.4 percent, a rate that is 2.9 percentage points lower than its long-run average. The operating rate for durable manufacturing declined 0.3 percentage point, and the rate for nondurable manufacturing decreased 0.5 percentage point. The utilization rate for mining fell to 89.2 percent, which is about 2 percentage points above its long-run average. The rate for utilities increased 2.1 percentage points but remained well below its long-run average.
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