The following is the unedited transcript of the news release from Federal Reserve Bank, US

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION

Industrial production increased 0.1 percent in October after having averaged monthly gains of about 0.9 percent over the previous three months. Manufacturing production moved down 0.1 percent and the output of mines decreased 0.2 percent, but the index for utilities rose 1.6 percent. At 98.6 percent of its 2002 average, total industrial production was 7.1 percent below its level of a year earlier. Capacity utilization for total industry moved up 0.2 percentage point to 70.7 percent, a rate 10.2 percentage points below its average for 1972 through 2008, and capacity utilization for manufacturing was unchanged at 67.6 percent.

Market Groups

The production of consumer goods was unchanged in October, as a decrease in the production of durables was offset by a gain in nondurables. A decline of 1.4 percent in the index for durable consumer goods reflected decreases in all of its major components, including a drop of 2.0 percent in the output of automotive products. Assemblies of light motor vehicles edged down to an annual rate of 6.8 million units in October after having climbed from 4.1 million units in June to 7.1 million units in September. The index for consumer nondurables moved up 0.3 percent in October, as an increase in non-energy nondurables more than offset a decrease in consumer energy products. The advance in non-energy nondurables resulted from gains of around 1 percent in the production of foods and tobacco and of chemical products; the output of clothing and of paper products decreased.

The index for business equipment moved down 0.2 percent in October. This decline was driven by a decrease in the output of information processing equipment; the indexes for the transit and the industrial and other categories were unchanged. Production of defense and space equipment declined 0.2 percent after three months of gains of more than 1.0 percent.

Among nonindustrial supplies, the production of construction supplies fell 1.2 percent in October after a similarly sized decrease in September. The output of business supplies rose 0.1 percent; a decrease in general business supplies mostly offset an advance in sales of electricity to commercial businesses that boosted the output of commercial energy products. The production of materials moved up 0.3 percent. The index for non-energy materials edged up 0.1 percent, with identical increases for both durables and nondurables, and the index for energy materials rose 0.9 percent.

Industry Groups

Manufacturing output declined 0.1 percent in October after having risen appreciably in each of the previous three months. The factory operating rate showed no change from its September level of 67.6 percent. The index for durable goods fell 0.4 percent with decreases in most of its major components. Drops of more than 1-1/2 percent were recorded for nonmetallic mineral products, for motor vehicles and parts, and for furniture and related products. Wood products; fabricated metals; computer and electronic products; electrical equipment, appliances, and components; and aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment all registered declines of less than 1.0 percent. In contrast, the output of primary metals jumped 3.5 percent, machinery output edged up 0.2 percent, and the output of miscellaneous manufacturing was unchanged.

The production of nondurable goods, which expanded 0.2 percent, included gains of more than 1.0 percent in the indexes for textile and product mills and for paper. Smaller increases were registered in the output of chemicals and of food, beverage, and tobacco products. The indexes for apparel and leather, for printing and support, and for petroleum and coal products declined. The production of plastics and rubber products was unchanged. Production in the non-NAICS manufacturing industries (logging and publishing) dropped 1.2 percent.

The output of mines dropped 0.2 percent in October after three months of increases, and the capacity utilization rate for mining fell 0.1 percentage point to 83.5 percent. The output of utilities increased 1.6 percent, and the operating rate for utilities advanced 1.1 percentage points to 79.0 percent. Both electric and natural gas utilities posted output gains of more than 1.0 percent.

Capacity utilization at industries grouped by stage of process changed as follows: For the crude stage, utilization edged up 0.1 percentage point to 83.1 percent, a rate 3.5 percentage points below its 1972-2008 average; for the primary and semifinished stages, utilization increased 0.1 percentage point, to 67.4 percent, a rate 14.6 percentage points below its long-run average; and for the finished stage, utilization edged up 0.1 percentage point to 69.5 percent, a rate 8.2 percentage points below its long-run average.

Revision of Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

The Federal Reserve Board plans to issue its annual revision to the index of industrial production (IP) and the related measures of capacity utilization in the second quarter of 2010. The revised IP indexes will incorporate detailed data from the 2007 Economic Census and the 2008 Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM), both conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The date for the issuance of the revision has been deferred because of a prospective delay in the availability of the 2008 ASM. Data from selected editions of the Census Bureau's 2008 Current Industrial Reports will also be incorporated. Annual data from the U.S. Geological Survey regarding metallic and nonmetallic minerals (except fuels) for 2008 will also be incorporated. The updating will include revisions to the monthly indicator (either product data or input data) and to seasonal factors for each industry as well as changes in the estimation methods for some series. Any changes to the methods for estimating the output of an industry will affect the index from 1972 to the present.

Capacity and capacity utilization will be revised to incorporate data from the Census Bureau's Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity, which covers manufacturing, along with new data on capacity from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, and other organizations.

Once the revision is published, it will be available on the Board's website at www.federalreserve.gov/releases/G17. The revised data will also be available through the website of the Department of Commerce. Further information on the revision can be obtained from the Board's Industrial Output Section (telephone number 202-452-3197).

Available at:

http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g17/current/default.htm