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Industrial production fell 0.1% in November after declining 0.4% in October. On the other hand, manufacturing output rose 0.2%, with a 3.5% gain in the motor vehicles and parts index leading the increase. Despite the end of the Boeing worker strike in early November, aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment output declined 2.6%, largely because of decreases in aircraft parts production. At 102.0% of its 2017 average, total industrial production in November fell 0.9% from the same month last year. Capacity utilization dropped to 76.8%, 2.9 percentage points below its long-term average from 1972 to 2023, but rose 1.2% from the same month last year.

In November, major market groups saw mixed results. Among consumer goods, the production of durables increased 1.6%, led by appliances, furniture and carpeting (3.4%) and automotive products (2.0%), while the index for nondurables decreased 0.4%, with the greatest declines in clothing (-2.0%) and paper products (-1.4%). The business equipment index improved 1.2% in November, with transit equipment up 5.1% after two months of double-digit declines.

Durable goods manufacturing increased 0.7% in November. Apart from the drop in aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment (-2.6%), most durable manufacturing industry groups posted gains. Nondurable goods manufacturing, on the other hand, slipped 0.3% in November, with the largest loss in apparel and leather (-2.1%).

Manufacturing capacity utilization inched up 0.1% to 76.0%, which is 2.3 percentage points below the long-term average.