Capacity utilization: Primary metal (percentage of total capacity; NAICS = 331) - United States - Fed Board - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: US industrial capacity utilization (FED Board)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. According to recent data on industrial capacity utilization in the United States, the production of primary metals stood at 68.03 percent of total available capacity in September 2026, compared to 67.09 in the previous month.
Sample. There are 717 observations in the monthly time series shown in the figure above. The series covers the span of time going from January 1967 to September 2026.
History. Here's a glimpse of some descriptive statistics we calculated on the full sample: capacity utilization reached its minimum of 48.24 percent of productive capacity in November 1982; it recorded a maximum of 101.86 percent of productive capacity in December 1973; it had an average value of 77.36 percent of productive capacity.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 67.5841 |
| 2026-08-31 | 67.0949 |
| 2026-09-30 | 68.0343 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Capacity utilization: Primary metal (NAICS = 331) |
| Country | United States |
| Economic concept | Actual production divided by production capacity |
| Data type | Capacity utilization |
| Deflation method | Real |
| Seasonally adjusted | Yes |
| Rescaling | None |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Unit | Percentage points |
| Source | Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System |
| Source type | Central bank |
| Data licence | Licence to copy and distribute without permission |
| Measure type | Level |
Series in the same data set
Discover the other time series included in this data set.
Main index
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity utilization: Total index (percentage of total capacity) - United States - Fed Board - Monthly | 717 | 1967-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
Main industry groups
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity utilization: Durable manufacturing (percentage of total capacity) - United States - Fed Board - Monthly | 717 | 1967-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Capacity utilization: Nondurable manufacturing (percentage of total capacity) - United States - Fed Board - Monthly | 717 | 1967-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Capacity utilization: Other manufacturing (percentage of total capacity) - United States - Fed Board - Monthly | 657 | 1972-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Capacity utilization: Mining (percentage of total capacity; NAICS = 21) - United States - Fed Board - Monthly | 717 | 1967-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Capacity utilization: Electric and gas utilities (percentage of total capacity; NAICS = 2211,2) - United States - Fed Board - Monthly | 717 | 1967-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
Durable goods
Nondurable goods
Utilities
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity utilization: Electric power generation, transmission, and distribution (percentage of total capacity; NAICS = 2211) - United States - Fed Board - Monthly | 717 | 1967-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Capacity utilization: Natural gas distribution (percentage of total capacity; NAICS = 2212) - United States - Fed Board - Monthly | 717 | 1967-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |