Factory activity
Capacity utilization, manufacturing
As of May 2026, capacity utilization, manufacturing stands at 75.57% % of capacity (Federal Reserve G.17 via FRED), rising over the recent window.
What this measures and why it matters
- Capacity utilization, manufacturing measures how hard the country's factories are running against their potential. It is a gauge of slack or tightness in the system, useful context for lead-time expectations and for judging pricing power up and down the supply chain.
- The figure comes from Federal Reserve G.17 via FRED and is reported in % of capacity. MFG Calcs archives every published value, so the chart and table below show the full recorded history rather than a single snapshot, and they extend automatically as new data lands.
Current reading and trend
- Latest reading: 75.57% % of capacity for May 2026.
- Prior period: 75.60% (Apr 2026), a decline of 0.03.
- Compared with a year earlier, capacity utilization, manufacturing is up 0.2%.
- Across the archived window the high was 75.87% in Jul 2025 and the low was 74.63% in Dec 2025.
- The series has moved down for 1 consecutive periods.
- 13 observations have been archived so far, and this page deepens automatically each time Federal Reserve G.17 via FRED publishes a new figure.
Recent observations
- May 2026: 75.57% % of capacity
- Apr 2026: 75.60% % of capacity
- Mar 2026: 75.11% % of capacity
- Feb 2026: 75.08% % of capacity
- Jan 2026: 74.67% % of capacity
- Dec 2025: 74.63% % of capacity
- Nov 2025: 74.82% % of capacity
- Oct 2025: 74.97% % of capacity
- Sep 2025: 75.69% % of capacity
- Aug 2025: 75.80% % of capacity
- Jul 2025: 75.87% % of capacity
- Jun 2025: 75.57% % of capacity
- May 2025: 75.39% % of capacity
Last reviewed 2026-05-12.