December 23, 2025
Industrial production rose 0.2% in November after declining 0.1% in October. In the past year industrial production has risen 2.5%.
Breaking industrial production down into its three basic categories — manufacturing, mining, and utilities — manufacturing production was unchanged in November after falling 0.4% inOctober. In the past year manufacturing output has risen 1.9%.
Motor vehicle sector production fell 1.0% in November after declining 5.1% in October. This category is very volatile on a month-to-month basis. In the past year motor vehicle producrtion has declined 5.6%.
Excluding the motor vehicle sector, manufacturing output rose 0.2% in November after gaining 0.3% in October In the past year it has risen 3.0%.
High tech production rose 1.1% in November after having increased 1.9% in October. High tech production has risen 11.8% in the past year. We would suggest that if firms are unable to find an adequate supply of workers, they will turn to technology in an effort to boost production and satisfy the demand for their products. At the same time firms are all experimenting with AI in an effort to figure out how it might help them boost productivity. Thus, we expect high tech production to continue to climb rapidly in the months ahead which should boost productivity growth.
Mining (14%) output rose 1.7% in November after having falling 0.8% in October. Mining has risen 3.9% in the past year.
Utilities output fell 0.4% in November after having risen 2.6% in September. Over the past year utility output has risen 4.8%. This component is extremely volatile from month-to-month as the weather fluctuates.
Capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector was unchanged in November at 75.4% after having fallen 0.4% in October.. The utilization rate is below the 77.4% level that is generally regarded as effective full capacity utilization.
Stephen Slifer
NumberNomics
Charleston, SC
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