May 2011 Industrial Production, Capacity Utilization and Capacity

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Industrial production edged up 0.1 percent in May, the second consecutive month with little or no gain. Revisions to total industrial production in months before May were small. In May, manufacturing production rose 0.4 percent after having fallen 0.5 percent in April. The output of motor vehicles and parts has been held down in the past two months because of supply chain disruptions following the earthquake in Japan. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, manufacturing output advanced 0.6 percent in May and edged down 0.1 percent in April; the decrease in April in part reflected production lost because of tornadoes in the South at the end of the month. At 93.0 percent of its 2007 average, total industrial production in May was 3.4 percent above its year-earlier level. The output of Wood Products factories fell 1.8 percent, while Paper output rose by 0.4 percent.
 

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Capacity utilization for total industry was flat at 76.7 percent, a rate 3.7 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2010. Manufacturing capacity utilization rose by 0.4 percent. Wood Products downshifted by 1.6 percent, while Paper expanded by 0.5 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.