April Industrial Production

Updated: 15-May-26 09:33 ET

Highlights

• Industrial production increased 0.7% month-over-month in April ( consensus: 0.2%) following an upwardly revised 0.3% decline (from -0.5%) in March.
• The capacity utilization rate was 76.1% ( consensus: 75.7%), up from 75.7% in March.
• Total industrial production was up 1.4% year-over-year.
• The capacity utilization rate was 3.3 percentage points below its long-run average.

Key Factors

• Manufacturing output jumped 0.6% following an upwardly revised 0.1% increase (from -0.1%) in March. With the revision, April marked the fourth consecutive month that manufacturing output increased. Motor vehicle assemblies increased 4.0% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 10.69 million units. Manufacturing capacity utilization rose to 75.8% from 75.4% in March.
• Mining output dipped 0.1% month-over-month following a 1.6% decline in March. Mining capacity utilization slipped to 84.6% from 84.7%.
• Utilities output jumped 1.9% month-over-month after sliding 1.4% in March. Utilities capacity utilization increased to 71.1% from 70.0% in March.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report is that it was underpinned by solid manufacturing output that was led by the production of durables. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, manufacturing output was up 0.3% month-over-month.