Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for March 2000.Industrial production increased 0.3 percent in March after having increased an average of 1/2 percent in the previous three months. At 142.0 percent of its 1992 average, industrial production in March was 5.1 percent higher than in March 1999. For the first quarter as a whole, the total index increased at an annual rate of 6.4 percent, up from a gain of 5.3 percent in the fourth quarter. 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. in the first quarter reflects 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 the output of utilities, which had fallen sharply in the fourth quarter. Although manufacturing output expanded slightly less rapidly in the first quarter than in the fourth, it increased at a rate still well above the average for 1998 and 1999. The rate of 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. for total industry edged down in March to 81.4 percent, a level about 1/2 percentage point below its 1967-99 average. [GRAPHS This partial list of graphs contains definitions of graphs and graph families which are known by particular names, but do not have a Wikipedia article of their own. For collected definitions of graph theory terms that do not refer to individual graph types, such as OMITTED]
Industrial production and capacity utilization, March 2000
Industrial production, index, 1992 = 100
Category 1999 2000
Dec.(r) Jan.(r) Feb.(r) Mar.(p)
Total 140.1 141.5 141.6 142.0
Previous estimate 140.2 141.7 142.1 ...
Major market groups
Products, total(2) 128.5 130.0 130.2 130.3
Consumer goods 118.1 119.2 119.2 119.0
Business equipment 175.5 179.4 180.0 181.5
Construction supplies 134.9 136.5 136.6 136.5
Materials 159.7 160.8 161.0 162.0
Major industry groups
Manufacturing 145.6 146.8 147.0 147.6
Durable 178.4 181.0 181.2 182.5
Nondurable 113.7 113.8 113.9 113.9
Mining 99.5 99.9 99.1 100.0
Utilities 113.5 117.7 118.6 115.7
Capacity utilization, percent
1999
Average, Low, High
1967-99 1982 1988-89 Mar.
Total 82.0 71.1 85.4 80.5
Previous estimate ... ... ... ...
Manufacturing 81.1 69.0 85.7 79.6
Advanced processing 80.5 70.4 84.2 78.5
Primary processing 82.4 66.2 88.9 82.9
Mining 87.3 80.3 88.0 80.9
Utilities 87.5 75.9 92.6 91.9
Industrial production, index, 1992 = 100
Percentage change
1999(1) 2000(1)
Category
Dec.(r) Jan.(r) Feb.(r) Mar.(p)
Total .5 1.0 .1 .3
Previous estimate .5 1.1 .3 ...
Major market groups
Products, total(2) .4 1.2 .1 .1
Consumer goods .4 .9 .0 -.2
Business equipment .3 2.2 .3 .9
Construction supplies .5 1.1 .1 -.1
Materials .5 .7 .1 .6
Major industry groups
Manufacturing .4 .8 .1 .4
Durable .6 1.4 .1 .8
Nondurable .1 .0 .1 .0
Mining -.2 .5 -.9 1.0
Utilities 2.4 3.7 .8 -2.5
Capacity utilization, percent
1999 2000
Dec.(r) Jan.(r) Feb.(r) Mar.(p)
Total 81.1 81.6 81.5 81.4
Previous estimate 82.1 81.7 81.7 ...
Manufacturing 80.3 80.7 80.6 80.6
Advanced processing 79.2 79.7 79.5 79.5
Primary processing 83.9 83.9 83.9 84.0
Mining 82.8 83.3 82.7 83.6
Utilities 88.4 91.6 92.3 89.9
Industrial production, index, 1992 = 100
Percentage change
Category
Mar. 1999
to
Mar. 2000
Total 5.1
Previous estimate ...
Major market groups
Products, total(2) 3.4
Consumer goods 2.0
Business equipment 8.4
Construction supplies 3.6
Materials 7.8
Major industry groups
Manufacturing 5.7
Durable 8.6
Nondurable 1.9
Mining 2.6
Utilities -.9
MEMO
Capacity,
per-
centage
change,
Mar. 1999
to
Mar. 2000
Total 3.8
Previous estimate ...
Manufacturing 4.3
Advanced processing 5.2
Primary processing 2.0
Mining -.6
Utilities 1.3
NOTE. Data are seasonally adjusted or calculated from seasonally
adjusted monthly data.
(1.) Change from preceding month.
(2.) Contains components in addition to those shown.
(r) Revised.
(p) Preliminary.
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 edged down 0.2 percent in March, as an increase of 0.4 percent in the production of durable consumer goods was more than offset by a decline in the production of nondurables. The gain in the production of durable consumer goods mostly reflected a 0.7 percent rebound in the output of automotive products. The output of other consumer 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. edged up 0.1 percent in February February: see month. and March after having posted sizable siz·a·ble also size·a·ble adj. Of considerable size; fairly large. siz  a·ble·ness n. gains in the previous two months. 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. non-energy consumer goods slipped 0.2 percent in March, as solid gains in the production of consumer chemicals and paper products were mostly offset by declines in the output of foods and tobacco and of clothing. The output of consumer energy products, which fell back 1.6 percent, was pushed down by a decrease in utilities' sales to residences. The production of business equipment increased 0.9 percent, advancing at about the same pace that it had averaged in the previous three months. The production of 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. and related equipment increased 2.0 percent on the strength of gains in the output of communications equipment and computers. The production index for the "other equipment" category also posted a strong gain that reflected a sharp increase in the output of farm machinery and equipment; even so, output for this category has only partially recovered from its steep drop in the first half of last year. The output of 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 fell again in March because of continued declines in the production of commercial aircraft and reductions in the production of medium and heavy trucks. The production of industrial equipment fell back 0.7 percent, retracing the gain in February; some of the decrease reflected a decline in the output of construction machinery, which had posted substantial increases in the previous three months. The production index for construction supplies edged down 0.1 percent and remains close to its recent peak in January January: see month. ; it was up 5.0 percent (annual rate) in the first quarter, a rise similar to the gain in the fourth quarter of last year. The output of materials was up 0.6 percent in March, slightly more than the average gain in the preceding three months. The output of durable goods materials rose 0.8 percent, with another strong increase in equipment parts, particularly semiconductors. The output indexes for nondurable goods materials and for energy materials rose 0.2 percent. INDUSTRY GROUPS Manufacturing output rose 0.4 percent in March, led by gains in the production of durable goods; the production of nondurable goods, which had risen sharply in the fourth quarter, has been little changed since the end of last year. Among durable goods, which accelerated to an annual rate of 9.7 percent in the first quarter, continued increases in the production of high-technology goods accounted for most of the overall gain. In particular, more rapid output of communications equipment contributed importantly to the acceleration. The output of nondurables advanced at an annual rate of only 1.6 percent in the first quarter. The production of food, paper, printing, and chemicals all decelerated between the fourth and first quarters. 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. , at 80.6 percent, was unchanged. 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 primary-processing industries increased slightly, to 84.0 percent, while that for advanced-processing industries remained at 79.5 percent. The output of utilities fell back 2.5 percent because of unseasonably warm weather; the operating rate at utilities fell to 89.9 percent. Mine production increased 1.0 percent, more than reversing the decline in February. |
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