April 2011 Industrial Production, Capacity Utilization and Capacity

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Industrial production was unchanged in April after having increased 0.7 percent in March. Output in February is now estimated to have declined 0.3 percent; previously it was reported as having edged up 0.1 percent. In April, manufacturing production fell 0.4 percent after rising for nine consecutive months. Total motor vehicle assemblies dropped from an annual rate of 9.0 million units in March to 7.9 million units in April, mainly because of parts shortages resulting from the earthquake in Japan. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, factory production rose 0.2 percent in April. The output of Wood Products factories fell 0.4 percent, while Paper output decreased 0.6 percent. At 93.1 percent of its 2007 average, total industrial production was 5.0 percent above its year-earlier level.
 

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The rate of capacity utilization for total industry edged down 0.1 percentage point to 76.9 percent, a rate 3.5 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2010. The falloff in manufacturing capacity utilization was an even more severe -0.5 percent. Wood Products downshifted by 0.2 percent, and Paper by 0.6 percent.
 

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Capacity at the all-industries and manufacturing levels crept higher (0.1 percent); Wood Products dropped by 0.2 percent while Paper declined by 0.1 percent.