June Industrial Production Up 5.4%, Still Below Pre-Pandemic Level

Washington, DC, July 15, 2020-Total industrial production rose 5.4% in June after increasing 1.4% in May; even so, it remained 10.9% below its pre-pandemic February level, according to the Federal Reserve. 

For the second quarter as a whole, the index fell 42.6% at an annual rate, its largest quarterly decrease since the industrial sector retrenched after World War II. Manufacturing output climbed 7.2% in June, as all major industries posted increases. The largest gain-105.0%-was registered by motor vehicles and parts, while factory production elsewhere rose 3.9%. Mining production fell 2.9%, and the output of utilities increased 4.2%. At 97.5% of its 2012 average, the level of total industrial production was 10.8% lower in June than it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 3.5 percentage points to 68.6% in June, a rate that is 11.2 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2019) average but 1.9 percentage points above its trough during the Great Recession.