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FEDERAL RESERVE statistical release G.3 For immediate release April 16, 1980 (402) CAPACITY UTILIZATION: MANUFACTURING AND MATERIALS March 1980 Manufacturers operated at 83.0 percent of capacity in March, 0.9 of a percentage point lower than in the preceding month and 4.1 percentage points below a year earlier. The utilization rate for industrial materials was 84.4 percent in March, down 0.8 of a percentage point from February and 3.9 percentage points from a year earlier. In the first quarter of 1980 the manufacturing and the materials utilization rates were respectively 3.0 and 2.8 percentage points lower than in the first quarter of 1979. Within manufacturing, the utilization rate for primary processing industries fell 1.5 percentage points, and the rate for advanced processing industries fell 0.6 percentage point, with widespread declines in both groups of industries. Producers of durable goods materials operated at 81.3 percent of capacity in March, down 1.1 percentage points from the previous month and 6.2 percentage points from a year earlier. The rate of utilization for metals materials has fallen by approximately 11 percentage points over the past year. The utilization rate for nondurable goods materials, which until recently had held fairly steady at a relatively high level, declined 0.9 of a percentage point in March to 88.9 percent; the decline in this rate since the end of 1979 mainly reflects drops in utilization rates for paper and textile materials. MANUFACTURING PERCENT INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS 100 TOTAL 80 60 100 NONDURABLE GOODS PRIMARY PROCESSING 80 ADVANCED PROCESSING 60 1971 1974 1Q77 OUTPUT, CAPACITY AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION Output and Capacity are Percentages of 1967 Output; Capacity Utilization is a Per Cent of Capacity. Seasonally Adjusted Manufacturing SERIES M A N U F A C T U R I N G , TOTAL P R I M A R Y PROCESSING A D V A N C E D PROCESSING 1973J HJGHI 1 88.01 J 93.8| 1 85.5| 1 1975 LOB M O N T H L Y CAPACITY U T I L I Z A T I O N 1979 MAR. -_,A£B*.™N4X JUNE . JnLI_ AUG. ?»P. OCTT NOV. PEC. _ JAIL. 69.0 87.1 85.3 86.3 86.2 86.1 64.9 85.3 84.9 84.6 84.3 84.3 63.2 88.6 87.8 83.0 37.9 88.9 87.7 87.3 86.8 86.7 69.4 86.2 83.8 85.5 85.2 34.6 83.3 64.2 83.9 83.4 35.81 85.8 1 83.3| 83.4 1^ UTILIZATION 1980| Jl 1979 I II OUTPUT 1979 I M A N U F A C T U R I N G , TOTAL 153.4 11 153.1 III 153.3 P R I M A R Y PROCESSING 162.1 161.9 163.4 ADVANCED PROCESSING 148.7 148.5 148.1 1980 CAPACITY IV 1 153.0| 152.61 176.9 1 1 161.81 159.5| 182.7 1 148.2J 143.9J 173.8 178.2 III 179.5 184.2 135.7 175.0 176.2 1980| II 1 180.8] 182. 3| I I 187.21 188.7) 1 177.4| 178.8| IV 1979 I II III.. ESS* 1A£. 83.9 83.0 84.6 83.1 83.5 81.9 :v _, 1583 ,* 1 86.7 85.9 85.4 84.6| 33.7 84.5 88.7 87.9 88.0 85.6 84.8 84.0 | j 86. U | 1 33.t| 1 DEC. I 1 36.0| 1 | 83.4| 1 84.2| 1 1 90.7| 1 91. 1| I 89.5| 97.5| 90.1| 1 1 86.2| 1980 JAN. FEb. 1AR. 86.0 85.2 84. 4 83.4 82.4 81.3 83.0 80.9 90.7 89.8 88.9 90.9 89.8 89.2 88.8 95.7 90.3 89.5 92.7 89.2 36.5 86.2 93.3 Industrial Materials MONTHLY CAPACITY UTILIZATION SERIES MATERIALS, TOTAL D'JfcABLE GOODS M A T E R I A L S METAL MATERIALS N O N D U R A B L E GOODS MATERIALS T E X . , PAPER, & CHEW. MAT. T E X T I L E MATERIALS PAPER M A T E R I A L S CHEMICAL MATERIALS E N E R G Y MATE&IALS 1973J HIGHI 1 92.6| 1 1 91.5| I 9&.2| 1 1 94.5| 1 95.11 1 92.6| 99.4| 95.5J 1 1 94.6| f 1975 LOW 1979 I MAR. APR. !UY «?JN,E JU.LY AU3, SEP* OCT T NOV. 69.4 88.3 87.0 87.4 87.6 87.9 86.9 86.8 86.6 86.4 63.6 87.5 85.4 86.3 86.9 37.3 85.5 85.2 84.7 83.9 68.6 90.6 38.2 87.0 90.4 92.4 89.8 88.4 85.1 84.7 67.2 90.0 89.6 39.8 89.2 89.6 90.. 0 90.1 90.1 90.4 65.3 90.0 90.0 90.2 89.9 90.2 90.7 91.1 91.0 91.0 57.9 72.4 64.2 86.8 93. S 89.8 65.3 94.3 90.1 86.5 93.6 90.2 89.4 94.1 89.1 88.8 97.3 88.3 87.5 97.4 89.8 90.3 98.1 89.7 90.0 98.2 89.5 89.2 97.9 89.3 84.8 87.5 87.2 86.6 86.8 87.1 36.1 86.2 86.3 87.2 1979 I MATERIALS, TOTAL DURABLE GOODS MATERIALS 155.5 -II155.6 III 156.6 158.4 157.7 158.7 124.7 124.3 126.9 N O N D U R A B L E GOODS MATERIALS 172.2 173.4 175.7 TEX., PAPER, 6 CHE3. MAT. 179.1 181.3 184.3 118.2 136.9 222.7 119.6 140.7 224.8 122.4 147.0 226.6 127.9 , 123. 1 . 128.3 METAL MATERIALS TEXTILE MATERIALS PAPER MATERIALS CHEMICAL MATERIALS ENERGY M A T E R I A L S NOTE: 86.3 A OUTPUT UTILIZATION CAPACITY IV I 156.3J 1 1 156.31 I 119.51 1 1 178.31 1 186.91 I 123.7| 148. 4J 230.21 I 1 129.1| I 1980| 11 1979 I 155.61 176.7 154.5 II 178.1 III 179.5 181.5 183.0 184.5 139.8 140.3 140.7 178.9 191.7 193.5 195.3 1%.5 199.4 201.3 203.2 136.9 148.6 247.2 137.3 149.6 250.3 137.7 150.6 253.3 129.31 146.7 147.5 LT .- 143.3 1980| II I 181.0) 182.5) 1 1 186.0J 187.7 1 IV 1 1 197.31 199.1 1 205.31 207.3 1 133.11 151.6| 256.3| 1 I 149.21 149.8| 1 1979 I II III 1S80 I IV I 88.0 87.3 87.2 87.3 86.2 86.0 89.2 88.5 90.2 89.8 89.6 89.9 89.8 90.0 90.7 86.3 92.1 90.1 87. 1 94.0 89.8 38.9 97.6 89.5 87.1 86.9 86.5 85.2 " 1 1 84.0| 1 84.7| 1 | 90.4| 1 91.0| 1 89.6| 97.91 89.8| | 1 86.6| 1 82.3 89.3 90.0 86.3 ESTIMATES OP ACTUAL OUTPUT AND CAPACITY OUTPUT ARE BOTH EXPRESSED AS PERCENTAGES OP 1967 ACTUAL OUTPUT. ESTIMATES OF CAPACITY UTILIZATION IN PERCENT A R E CALCULATED AS RATIOS 0? (1) THE FEDERAL RESERVE'S SEASONALLY ADJUSTED INDEXES OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION TO (2) 1HE C02RESPOURING INDEXES OP CAPACITY. INDUSTRIAL HATEEIALo ARE HEMS BOTH PRODUCED AND USED AS INPUTS BY MANUFACTURING PLANTS, MIMES AND UTILITIES; INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS COVER M A N Y OF THE ITEMS REPRESENTED IN THP PRIMARY PROCESSING GROUPING OF MANUFACTURING AS WELL AS SOME OF THE OUTPUT OF MIHES AND UTILITIES — SUCH AS IRON ORE. CRUDE OIL, AND ELECTRICITY SOLD TO INDUSTRY. THE 1973 HIGHS AND 1975 LOWS IN CAPACITY UTILISATION, SHOWN IK TH5 TABLES ABOVE, ARE SPECIFIC TO EACH SERIES AND HAY OCCUR IN DIFFERENT HONTRE. INDUSTRIAL PLANTS USUALLY OPERATE AI CAPACITY UTILIZATION RATES THAT ASS WELL BELOW 100 PERCENT; NONF CF THE BROAD AGGREGATE SERIES HAS EVER INDICATED A 100 P2EC5KT USE CF CAPACITY. CAPACITY UTILIZATION RAT^S AVERAG2D ABOUT 8J PERCENT FOR MANUFACTURING FROM 1955 IHCOUGH 1978, AND ABOU1 35 PERCENT FOR INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS FOR 1967 IHROUGH 1978. IN MANUFACTURING AS A WHOLE, UTILIZATION RATES AS HUH AS 90 PERCENT HAV2 B2EN EXCEEDED ONLY IN WARTIME. THE PEAK RATES OF UTILIZATION IN 1973 W2RE ASSOCIATED HUH SIGNIFICANT UPWARD PRESSURP OS PRICES. THE METHODOLOGY AMD THS SEiiISS A&E DESCRIBED IN FE.£E1£L R£S.EaV£ rt£ASUR££ 0_£ CAPACITY AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION. REVISED DATA ARE FOUND IN "CAPACITY UTILIZATION: MANUFACTURING AhD MATERIALS, J A N U A R Y 1967—DEC21BER 1978." BOTH PUBLICATIONS 1AY BE OBTAINED FROM PUBLICATIONS SERVICES, BOARD OF JOVE^NORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20551