Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for February 1999.Released for publication March 16 Industrial production increased 0.2 percent in February February: see month. . Mining production rose 0.4 percent, the first increase in a year, while production at utilities decreased 0.6 percent. Manufacturing output increased 0.2 percent, the fifth consecutive month of increase in that industry group. At 132.6 percent of its 1992 average, industrial production in February was 1.9 percent higher than it had been in February 1998. Overall 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. in February slipped 0.1 percentage point, to 80.3 percent, a level 1 3/4 percentage points below 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 and 2 1/4 percentage points below its February 1998 level. MARKET GROUPS The output of durable 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 increased 0.9 percent, a rise buoyed by large increases in the production of appliances and home electronics. In contrast, the production of automotive products edged down 0.1 percent after a strong gain in January January: see month. . The output 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 excluding energy decreased for the third consecutive month; part of the decline is attributable attributable emanating from or pertaining to attribute. attributable proportion see attributable risk (below). attributable risk to softness for clothing and paper products. The output of consumer energy products, which has been volatile With regard to computer memory, it means "temporary" and not "highly changeable," which is the usual meaning of the word. See volatile memory. 1. (programming) volatile - volatile variable. 2. (storage) volatile - See non-volatile storage. recently, fell 1.1 percent, reversing only part of the 2.8 percent gain in January. The production of business equipment increased 0.2 percent after having been flat in January. Declines in the output of industrial equipment and 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 were more than offset by gains 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 and other equipment. The gain in the other equipment group resulted from a jump in farm equipment, although output of the latter remains below its level in the first half of 1998. The output of construction supplies edged down 0.1 percent after four consecutive months of increases. The production of business supplies was flat. A strong increase in the production of semiconductors contributed to the 0.6 percent increase in 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. The output of basic metals fell 0.1 percent, and the level of production remained more than 6 percent less than in February 1998. The production of nondurable materials slipped 0.3 percent, a decline reflecting weakness in chemicals and paper materials. The production of energy materials edged up 0.2 percent. INDUSTRY GROUPS Manufacturing output grew 0.2 percent, with a 1/2 percent gain in the production of durable goods and a slight pullback Pullback A falling back of a price from its peak. This type of price movement might be seen as a brief reversal of the prevailing upward trend, signaling a slight pause in upward momentum. in the production of nondurable goods. Durable goods industries that posted increases in production included furniture and fixtures, industrial machinery, electrical machinery, and instruments. Those in which output fell included lumber lumber, term for timber that has been cut into boards for use as a building material. The major steps in producing lumber involve logging (the felling and preparation of timber for shipment to sawmills), sawing the logs into boards, grading the boards according to ; aircraft, which continued to edge down from the very high level achieved last year; and motor vehicles and parts, which slipped again although remaining at a high level. The production of nondurable goods edged down 0.2 percent after having declined 0.1 percent in January. Losses were widespread; gains were posted in tobacco products, chemicals, and rubber and plastic products. Mining production increased, as gains in coal output outweighed losses elsewhere. The factory 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. slid 0.1 percentage point, to 79.5 percent--2 1/4 percentage points below the level of February 1998. 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 inched down just 0.1 percentage point, while the utilization rate for primary-processing industries fell 0.4 percentage point. The utilization rate for mines edged up 0.2 percentage point but remained well below its long-term average. Temperatures were relatively warm, as has been the case all winter, and the operating rate for utilities dipped dip v. dipped, dip·ping, dips v.tr. 1. To plunge briefly into a liquid, as in order to wet, coat, or saturate. 2. to 89.8 percent. NOTICE The capacity estimates in this month's release incorporate a small change in the method used to interpolate See interpolation. the annual estimates of capacity growth to the monthly frequency. The previous monthly capacity figures were computed assuming that capacity growth is constant from the beginning of a year to the end, with potentially abrupt changes in growth rates Growth Rates The compounded annualized rate of growth of a company's revenues, earnings, dividends, or other figures. Notes: Remember, historically high growth rates don't always mean a high rate of growth looking into the future. between the last months of one year and the first months of the next. The new procedure allows capacity growth rates to change smoothly over time; it has been applied to data beginning with October October: see month. 1998. At the most detailed industry level, the new capacity estimates maintain the same fourth quarter over fourth quarter growth rates that were calculated under the previous procedure. Table 4 now shows fourth quarter over fourth quarter growth rates instead of December December: see month. over December rates. [CHART OMITTED]
Industrial production and capacity utilization, February 1999
Industrial production, index, 1992 = 100
Category 1998 1999
Nov.(r) Dec.(r) Jan.(r) Feb.(p)
Total 132.2 132.4 132.4 132.6
Previous estimate 132.3 132.5 132.5 ...
Major market groups
Products, total(2) 124.5 124.4 124.5 124.5
Consumer goods 114.8 115.0 115.1 115.1
Business equipment 168.1 167.5 167.5 167.8
Construction supplies 129.6 131.1 131.6 131.5
Materials 144.6 145.3 145.2 145.7
Major industry groups
Manufacturing 136.4 136.6 136.7 136.9
Durable 161.0 161.2 161.5 162.3
Nondurable 111.6 111.7 1116.0 111.4
Mining 101.1 100.0 97.0 97.4
Utilities 110.6 112.5 114.6 114.0
Industrial production, index, 1992 = 100
Percentage change
Category
1998(1) 1999(1)
Nov.(r) Dec.(r) Jan.(r) Feb.(P)
Total -.2 .2 .0 .2
Previous estimate -.1 .2 .0 ...
Major market groups
Products, total(2) -.3 .0 .0 .0
Consumer goods -.4 .2 .1 .0
Business equipment -.6 -.3 .0 .2
Construction supplies .9 .1 .4 -.1
Materials .1 .4 .0 .3
Major industry groups
Manufacturing .2 .1 .1 .2
Durable -.1 .2 .2 .5
Nondurable .7 -.1 -.1 -.2
Mining -.9 -1.0 -3.0 .4
Utilities -5.1 1.7 1.9 -.6
Percentage change
Category
Feb. 1998 to
Feb. 1999
Total 1.9
Previous estimate ...
Major market groups
Products, total(2) 1.7
Consumer goods -.2
Business equipment 6.9
Construction supplies 4.6
Materials 2.2
Major industry groups
Manufacturing 2.4
Durable 5.4
Nondurable -1.2
Mining -9.4
Utilities 4.5
Capacity utilization, percent
Average, Low, High, 1998 1998
1967-98 1982 1988-89
Feb. Nov.(r)
Total 82.1 71.1 85.4 82.6 80.8
Previous estimate 80.9
Manufacturing 81.1 69.0 85.7 81.8 80.1
Advanced processing 80.5 70.4 84.2 807.0 79.4
Primary processing 82.4 66.2 88.9 847.0 82.4
Mining 87.5 80.3 88.0 899.0 83.8
Utilities 87.4 75.9 92.6 86.6 87.3
Capacity utilization, percent
Memo
Capacity,
1998 1999 percentage
change,
Feb. 1998
to
Dec. (r) Jan.(r) Feb.(p) Feb. 1999
Total 80.7 80.4 80.3 4.8
Previous estimate 80.8 80.5 ... ...
Manufacturing 79.9 79.6 79.5 5.3
Advanced processing 78.9 78.5 78.4 6.4
Primary processing 82.8 83.0 82.6 2.7
Mining 82.9 80.3 80.5 1.1
Utilities 88.7 90.4 89.8 .8
NOTE. Data 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 monthly data. (1.) Change from preceding month, calculated from seasonally adjusted (2.) Contains components in addition to those shown. (r) Revised. (p) Preliminary.3 |
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