Industrial production edged down 0.2 percent in May following two consecutive months of increases. In May, the index for manufacturing ticked up 0.1 percent, while the indexes for mining and utilities fell 0.4 and 1.8 percent, respectively. At 103.0 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in May was 0.2 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization moved down to 79.6 percent in May, a rate that is 0.1 percentage point below its long-run (1972–2022) average.
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Click on graph for larger image.
This graph shows Capacity Utilization. This series is up from the record low set in April 2020, and above the level in February 2020 (pre-pandemic).
Capacity utilization at 79.6% is close to the average from 1972 to 2022. This was slightly below consensus expectations.
Note: y-axis doesn’t start at zero to better show the change.
The second graph shows industrial production since 1967.
Industrial production decreased in May to 103.0. This is above the pre-pandemic level.
Industrial production was below consensus expectations, however previous months were revised up.