U.S. industrial production decreased slightly in November, following a sharp decline in October.

The Federal Reserve’s latest Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report, issued Dec. 17, showed that production decreased 0.1% in November month-to-month, exceeding the market expectation of a 0.2% increase by economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal. Production fell 0.4% in October.

At 102.0% of its 2017 average, total industrial production decreased 0.9% year-over-year. Capacity utilization moved down to 76.8%, which is down 2.9-percentage-points from its long-run (1972-2023) average.

Total November production was impacted by an increase of 0.2% in manufacturing that was boosted by a 3.5% increase in the index for motor vehicles and parts, but overall more than offset by declines in the indexes for mining and utilities.

United States Total Industrial Production Index – Month-Over-Month

source: tradingeconomics.com

Market Groups

Major market groups saw mixed results in November. The index for consumer goods was flat compared to October, while production of durable goods increased, supported by gains of 3.4% in appliances, furniture and carpeting and 1.2% in automotive products. Meanwhile, the index for nondurables decreases declined in November.

Business equipment showed a positive rise with a 1.2% increase in November, driven by an increase in transit equipment of 5.1%.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output increased 0.2% in November month-to-month and was 1.0% below its year-earlier-level. Nondurable manufacturing saw a slight decrease from declines in apparel and leather, petroleum and coal products and paper. Along with motor vehicles and parts (+3.5%), the month saw a solid gain in the index for machinery (+2.1%).

Specific industrial groups such as aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment (-2.6%) saw decreases in the month of November, despite the resolutions of the Boeing strikes.

Mining output decreased 0.9% in November month-to-month, and utilities likewise decreased 1.3%, with declines reported in electric and natural gas utilities.

Capacity utilization for manufacturing ticked up 0.1 percentage points in November to 76.0%.