by Calculated Risk on 10/18/2010 09:15:00 AM

From the Fed: Industrial production and Capacity Utilization

Industrial production decreased 0.2 percent in September after having increased 0.2 percent in August. ... The capacity utilization rate for total industry edged down to 74.7 percent, a rate 4.2 percentage points above the rate from a year earlier but 5.9 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2009.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows Capacity Utilization. This series is up 9.5% from the record low set in June 2009 (the series starts in 1967).

Capacity utilization at 74.7% is still far below normal - and well below the pre-recession levels of 81.2% in November 2007.

Note: y-axis doesn't start at zero to better show the change.

The second graph shows industrial production since 1967.

Industrial production declined slightly in September, and production is still 7.5% below the pre-recession levels at the end of 2007.

This is below consensus expectations of a 0.2% increase in Industrial Production, and an increase to 74.8% (from 74.7% before revision) for Capacity Utilization.