G17: Revised Estimates of Industrial Capacity

The estimates for industrial capacity in 2015 were revised for today's G.17 release. The revisions reflect updated measures of physical capacity from various government and private sources as well as updated estimates of capital spending by industry. Capacity for the industrial sector, measured from the fourth quarter of 2015 to the fourth quarter of 2016, is now expected to increase 0.4 percent, a rate that is 0.1 percentage point lower than previously estimated. Manufacturing capacity is now expected to rise 0.7 percent, a pace 0.2 percentage point less than the previous estimate; a smaller increase in the capacity for manufacturing of selected high-technology goods accounts for the downward revision. The decrease in mining capacity for 2016 is unrevised at 3.4 percent, and the gain in capacity for utilities is also unrevised at 0.8 percent.