Industrial production increased 0.8 percent in December after gains of 0.2 percent in November and 0.8 percent in October. In the manufacturing sector, output rose 0.7 percent in December, and increases occurred in most major industry groups. The output of utilities jumped 2.7 percent, and the output at mines advanced 0.4 percent. Over the twelve months ending in December, total industrial production increased 4.4 percent, to a level that is 117.8 percent of its 1997 average, while total industrial capacity expanded a modest 1.2 percent. The rate of capacity utilization in December, at 79.2 percent, was 2.4 percentage points above its year-earlier level but still 1.9 percentage points below its 1972-2003 average.
Market Groups
The output of consumer goods rose 0.7 percent in December and increased at an annual rate of 4.4 percent for the fourth quarter as a whole. In December, the index for consumer nondurables increased 0.8 percent and received a significant boost from the output of consumer energy products, which jumped 2.9 percent in December largely because of an increase in residential sales of electricity. Among non-energy nondurables, the index for paper products rose 1.2 percent while the indexes for clothing and for foods and tobacco moved up by smaller amounts; these gains more than offset a second monthly decline in the index for chemical products. The output of consumer durables rose 0.6 percent, as the index for automotive products turned back up and the indexes for appliances, furniture, and carpeting and for miscellaneous goods increased. The output of home electronics tumbled again and ended the year nearly 8-1/2 percent below its level in December 2003.The production of business equipment increased 0.9 percent in December and was nearly 10 percent above its year-earlier level; for the fourth quarter as a whole, this index rose at an annual rate of 5.9 percent. The output of information processing equipment added another 1.0 percent in December, the fourth month of similarly sized gains. Industrial and other equipment rose 1.3 percent; however, average output in the fourth quarter was little changed after having risen sharply over the previous four quarters. The production of defense and space equipment continued to climb in December, reaching a level 9.0 percent higher than a year earlier.
In December, nonindustrial supplies posted its largest one-month gain--0.9 percent--since February, mainly because of a jump of 1.1 percent in the output of business supplies. The index for materials also rose 0.9 percent; the rise in output in this category was supported both by a 1.3 percent gain for energy materials and by broad-based gains among durable and nondurable materials categories.
