Industrial production and capacity utilization data for June 2020 are now available.
Total industrial production rose 5.4 percent in June after increasing 1.4 percent in May; even so, it remained 10.9 percent below its pre-pandemic February level. For the second quarter as a whole, the index fell 42.6 percent at an annual rate, its largest quarterly decrease since the industrial sector retrenched after World War II. Manufacturing output climbed 7.2 percent in June, as all major industries posted increases. The largest gain—105.0 percent—was registered by motor vehicles and parts, while factory production elsewhere rose 3.9 percent. Mining production fell 2.9 percent, and the output of utilities increased 4.2 percent. At 97.5 percent of its 2012 average, the level of total industrial production was 10.8 percent lower in June than it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 3.5 percentage points to 68.6 percent in June, a rate that is 11.2 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2019) average but 1.9 percentage points above its trough during the Great Recession.The estimates for industrial capacity for 2020 were revised for this release. The revisions reflect updated measures of physical capacity from various government and private sources as well as updated estimates of capital spending by industry. Measured from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020, capacity for the industrial sector is now expected to be flat, whereas previously it was estimated to rise 1.3 percent. Manufacturing capacity is estimated to edge down 0.2 percent, a downward revision of 1.0 percentage point. Mining capacity also revised down and is now expected to decline 2.1 percent; it had been expected to expand 2.9 percent. This downward revision primarily reflects a reduction in capacity for oil and gas extraction. The gain in capacity for utilities, at 3.2 percent, is only 0.1 percentage point lower than previously estimated.]]>
