Calculated Risk July 17, 2024 9:15 AM
From the Federal Reserve: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
Industrial production increased 0.6% in June, following a 0.9% increase in May. For the second quarter as a whole, industrial production increased at an annualized rate of 4.3%. Manufacturing output rose 0.4% in June, bringing it up 3.4% (annualized) in the second quarter. In June, the mining and utilities indexes rose 0.3% and 2.8%, respectively. Overall industrial production was at 104% of the 2017 average in June, up 1.6% from a year ago. Capacity utilization rose to 78.8% in June, 0.9 percentage points below the long-term average (1972-2023).
Emphasis added; click on the graph to enlarge the image.
This graph shows occupancy rates, which have risen from the record low recorded in April 2020 and are now above February 2020 (pre-pandemic) levels.
The occupancy rate of 78.8% is 0.9% below the 1972 to 2022 average, which is above the consensus forecast.
Note: To better illustrate the changes, the y-axis does not start at zero.
The second graph shows industrial production since 1967.
Industrial production increased to 104.0, above pre-pandemic levels.
Industrial production beat consensus expectations.