US industrial production increased 0.7% in September 2026 from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Federal Reserve reported on 16 October. Manufacturing output rose 0.3%, while utilities increased 3.5%. The total therefore should not be described as a 0.7% rise in factories alone.
The Fed’s G.17 release puts August’s monthly total gain at 0.1%. September observations are preliminary, and earlier months include revisions. The official market-and-industry table provides the component and comparison bases behind the headline.
One release, several different measures
| Measure or stage | Verified basis | Official evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Total industrial production | +0.7% month on month, seasonally adjusted; August +0.1% | Source |
| Manufacturing / mining / utilities | +0.3% / +0.2% / +3.5% month on month | Source |
| Total output, annual comparison | +2.2% against September 2025 | Source |
| Total output, third quarter | +2.8% at an annualized quarterly rate | Source |
| Total capacity utilization | 76.9%; 2.5 percentage points below the 1972–2025 long-run average | Source |
| Data status / next annual revision | September preliminary; annual revision planned for 24 November 2026 | Source |
What the industrial total includes
Industrial production measures output in manufacturing, mining, and electric and gas utilities. It does not cover all services or the entire economy, so it is not gross domestic product. The components form a weighted aggregate; adding their individual percentage growth rates would not reproduce the total. This distinction matters when utilities move much more sharply than factories.
The annual comparison of 2.2% asks how September output differed from September 2025. The 2.8% third-quarter figure is an annualized quarterly pace—a way of expressing that quarter’s change at an annual rate. Neither is interchangeable with the 0.7% monthly reading. Keeping the period and calculation basis beside each number is more useful than treating them as competing estimates.
Capacity is a level, not another growth rate
Capacity utilization of 76.9% is the share of estimated industrial capacity in use. The 2.5-percentage-point gap describes its distance below the long-run average, not a 2.5% monthly fall in production. It does not establish the capacity or profitability of any particular company.
The Fed plans an annual revision on 24 November 2026, in addition to the preliminary/revised status shown in the current tables. That is a reason to retain the release date and the downloaded observation, not a basis for forecasting the revision. No future interest-rate decision, recession outcome, employment result or market reaction is verified by this report. The release and its table are two records from the same official statistical source.
Sources, preliminary status and limits
Lead-source observation: (UTC). This is the source-check time, not the economic reference period or the institution’s release date. Figures and scope are limited to the linked records; later outcomes were not verified. More economy and policy coverage.
Recorded source observation: . This is a source-check timestamp, not a market quote or a new article update.