Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for December 1998.Released for publication January January: see month. 15 Industrial production increased 0.2 percent in December December: see month. . Based on more complete information for a number of manufacturing industries manufacturing industries npl → industrias fpl manufactureras manufacturing industries npl → industries fpl de transformation and utilities, industrial production is now shown to have posted a larger gain in October October: see month. than previously estimated and to have declined less in November November: see month. . Production in December was boosted by a 1.6 percent increase in utilities. Manufacturing output increased for the third consecutive month, gaining 0.2 percent. At 132.8 percent of its 1992 average, industrial production in December was 1.9 percent higher than it was in December 1997. Capacity utilization Capacity Utilization measures the rate at which a firm makes use of their capital productive capacities, such as factories and machinery. Capacity Utilization generally rises when the economy is healthy and falls when demand softens. stood at 80.9 percent in December. The industry operating rate Operating rate The percentage of total production capacity of a company, industry, or country that is being used. operating rate The portion of capacity at which a business operates. declined 2 1/2 percentage points during 1998 to a level more than 1 percentage point below its 1967-97 average. Industrial production rose at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter after having increased at a 0.9 percent rate in the third quarter. The gain was notable in manufacturing, where the pace picked up from a 0.4 percent annual rate in the third quarter to 5.1 percent in the fourth quarter. Part of the acceleration acceleration, change in the velocity of a body with respect to time. Since velocity is a vector quantity, involving both magnitude and direction, acceleration is also a vector. In order to produce an acceleration, a force must be applied to the body. reflected a rebound rebound (rē´bownd), n/v 1. a recovery from illness. n 2. an outbreak of fresh reflex activity after withdrawal of a stimulus rebound adjective in motor vehicle assemblies after strikes had limited output in both the second and third quarters; nonetheless, the output of other manufacturing industries increased at an annual rate of 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter after having been little changed in the third quarter. Utility output fell 12.5 percent at an annual rate in the fourth quarter as a result of unusually mild temperatures. MARKET GROUPS The output of consumer goods consumer goods Any tangible commodity purchased by households to satisfy their wants and needs. Consumer goods may be durable or nondurable. Durable goods (e.g., autos, furniture, and appliances) have a significant life span, often defined as three years or more, and was unchanged in December. The production of automotive products was also unchanged, but the output of other durable consumer goods rose 0.8 percent. The production of nondurable non·du·ra·ble adj. Not enduring; being in a state of constant consumption: nondurable items such as paper products. n. A consumable item: nondurables such as food. consumer goods slipped 0.1 percent, pulled down by decreases in clothing and paper products. Residential sales of both electricity and gas increased. The production of business equipment was unchanged after a 0.8 percent drop in November. December declines in the output of industrial equipment (notably mining and oil and gas field equipment), transit transit, in astronomy, passage of a body across a meridian or passage of a small body across the visible disk of a larger one. (The passage of a large body across a smaller one is called an eclipse or occultation. equipment, and farm machinery (a component of the "other equipment" group) were offset by a gain in information processing information processing: see data processing. information processing Acquisition, recording, organization, retrieval, display, and dissemination of information. Today the term usually refers to computer-based operations. equipment. The output of construction supplies rose 0.6 percent after gains of about 1 percent in both October and November. The production of business supplies increased 1.0 percent in December, more than reversing its loss in November. The production of materials grew 0.5 percent after having been nearly flat in the preceding three months. The production of durable goods durable goods Goods, such as appliances and automobiles, that have a useful life over a number of periods. Firms that produce durable goods are often subject to wide fluctuations in sales and profits. Also called consumer durables. materials increased 0.6 percent as continued strength in the production of semiconductors and computer parts offset weakness in other categories. The output of basic metals slipped 0.1 percent and is now 5 percent below the level of December 1997. The production of nondurable materials also edged down 0.1 percent because of weakness in the production of paper and textiles textiles, all fabrics made by weaving, felting, knitting, braiding, or netting, from the various textile fibers (see fiber). Types of Textiles . INDUSTRY GROUPS Manufacturing output increased 0.2 percent, with gains in the production of durable goods and with no change in the production of nondurable goods. The output for most major durable goods industries increased; the biggest advances came in electrical machinery, miscellaneous manufactures, and furniture. The production of computers increased 2.2 percent, while the output of other industrial machinery fell, leaving the combined industrial machinery and computer industry up only 0.4 percent. In the past twelve months, computer output has expanded more than 50 percent. The production of nondurable goods was flat in December after having posted gains of about 1/2 percent in the preceding two months. Gains in petroleum and chemical products in December were offset by losses in printing, textiles, apparel, and food; the decline in food production follows two consecutive monthly gains of about 1 1/2 percent. Mining production continued to fall, being pulled down by the continued contraction contraction, in physics contraction, in physics: see expansion. contraction, in grammar contraction, in writing: see abbreviation. contraction - reduction in oil and gas extraction extraction /ex·trac·tion/ (eks-trak´shun) 1. the process or act of pulling or drawing out. 2. the preparation of an extract. . The factory operating rate dropped 0.2 percentage point to 79.9 percent--more than 2 1/2 percentage points below the level in December 1997. The average rate in the fourth quarter, 80.2 percent, was unchanged from the third quarter. The utilization utilization, n 1. the extent to which a given group uses a particular service in a specified period. Although usually expressed as the number of services used per year per 100 or per 1000 persons eligible for the service, utilization rates may be rate for advanced-processing industries remains below its 1967-97 average, while the utilization rate for primary-processing industries is at its long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. average. The utilization rate for mines fell 0.6 percentage point in December and has fallen more than 5 percentage points during the past twelve months. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Industrial production and capacity utilization, December 1998
Industrial production, index, 1992 = 100
Percentage change
Category 1998
Sept.(r) Oct.(r) Nov.(r) Dec.(p)
Total 131.9 132.6 132.5 132.8
Previous estimate 131.9 132.2 131.8
Major market groups
Products, total(2) 124.1 125.2 124.9 125.0
Consumer goods 114.8 115.6 115.8 115.8
Business equipment 167.4 169.5 168.2 168.1
Construction supplies 126.9 128.2 129.6 130.4
Materials 144.4 144.5 144.6 145.3
Major industry groups
Manufacturing 135.2 136.3 136.5 136.7
Durable 159.6 161.1 160.9 161.5
Nondurable 110.6 111.2 111.8 111.8
Mining 102.4 101.8 101.4 100.8
Utilities 120.3 117.4 113.9 115.7
Capacity utilization, percent
1997
Average, Low, High,
1967-97 1982 1988-89
Dec.
Total 82.1 71.1 85.4 83.4
Previous estimate
Manufacturing 81.1 69.0 85.7 82.5
Advanced processing 80.5 70.4 84.2 81.4
Primary processing 82.4 66.2 88.9 85.4
Mining 87.5 80.3 88.0 89.0
Utilities 87.5 75.9 92.6 89.9
Percentage change
1998(1)
Category
Sept.(r) Oct.(r) Nov.(r) Dec.(p)
Total -.4 .5 -.1 .2
Previous estimate -.4 .2 -.3
Major market groups
Products, total(2) -.6 .8 -.2 .1
Consumer goods -1.2 .8 .2 .0
Business equipment .5 1.3 -.8 .0
Construction supplies -.9 1.0 1.1 .6
Materials .0 .0 .1 .5
Major industry groups
Manufacturing -.4 .8 .1 .2
Durable -.1 1.0 -.1 .3
Nondurable -.7 .6 .5 .0
Mining -1.3 -.6 -.4 -.6
Utilities .0 -2.4 -2.9 1.6
Capacity utilization, percent
1998
Sept.(r) Oct.(r) Nov.(r) Dec.(p)
Total 81.3 81.4 81.0 80.9
Previous estimate 81.3 81.2 80.6
Manufacturing 80.1 80.4 80.1 79.9
Advanced processing 79.5 79.8 79.5 79.2
Primary processing 82.1 82.4 82.3 82.4
Mining 85.2 84.6 84.2 83.6
Utilities 95.0 92.7 89.9 91.3
Percentage change
Category
Dec. 1997
to Dec. 1998
Total 1.9
Previous estimate
Major market groups
Products, total(2) 2.2
Consumer goods .4
Business equipment 7.4
Construction supplies 5.0
Materials 1.4
Major industry groups
Manufacturing 2.3
Durable 4.8
Nondurable -.8
Mining -5.3
Utilities 2.4
MEMO
Capacity
percentage
change
Dec. 1997
to Dec. 1998
Total 5.0
Previous estimate
Manufacturing 5.6
Advanced processing 6.6
Primary processing 2.9
Mining .9
Utilities .8
Note: Date seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted Mathematically adjusted by moderating a macroeconomic indicator (e.g., oil prices/imports) so that relative comparisons can be drawn from month to month all year. or calculated from seasonally adjusted monthly data. (1.) Change from preceding month. (2.) Contains components in addition to those shown. (r) Revised (p) Preliminary |
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