Fact of the Week: US Manufacturing Capacity Utilization Is at Its Highest Since 2007

Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US), “Capacity Utilization: Manufacturing (NAICS) [MCUMFN],” retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; accessed June 1, 2022.

Commentary: U.S. manufacturing capacity utilization was 79.5 percent in April 2022. This is its highest level since April 2007 and 18.5 percentage points above its pandemic low in April 2020. Capacity utilization measures the extent to which producers realize their potential output and make use of available capital. Manufacturing capacity utilization in the United States has fallen steadily since the 1970s as manufacturing relocated from the United States to regions such as Southeast Asia, and it remains 9 percentage points below its high in November 1973.