News & Insights

Industrial production increased 0.2% in February, while manufacturing output rose by the same amount after expanding 0.8% in January. At 97.6% of its 2017 average, manufacturing production advanced 1.3% from February 2025. Capacity utilization for manufacturing was 75.6%, unchanged from January but up 1.1% over the past year. Capacity utilization remained 2.6 percentage points below its long-term average from 1972 to 2025.

In February, major market groups posted mixed results. Consumer goods production stayed the same, while business equipment output increased 0.2%. The gain in production of consumer durables (up 0.4%) was led by the output of appliances, furniture and carpeting rising 1.5%. Meanwhile, the index for consumer nondurables moved down 0.1%, led by a decline in the index for clothing (down 0.4%). Among business equipment, the 2.8% gain in transit equipment led the increase. At the same time, the index for materials improved 0.3%, while the index for construction supplies declined 0.2% and the index for business supplies ticked up 0.1%.

Durable goods manufacturing advanced 0.1% in February and 2.4% from the year prior. Monthly growth was greatest for motor vehicles and parts (up 1.7%), while machinery posted the largest decline (down 1.2%). Meanwhile, led by a 0.9% gain in chemicals output, nondurable manufacturing edged up 0.2% in February and 0.3% from February 2025.