US Capacity Utilization Edges Higher in December

2026-01-16 15:12 By Joana Ferreira 1 min. read

US capacity utilization increased to 76.3% in December 2025, up from 76.1% in November and slightly above market expectations of 76.0%.

Despite the modest improvement, the overall rate remained 3.2 percentage points below its long-run average for the period 1972–2024, indicating continued slack in productive capacity.

Capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector was unchanged at 75.6%, standing 2.6 percentage points below its long-run average.

Meanwhile, utilization in mining declined by 0.5 percentage point to 85.7%, while the utilities operating rate rose by 1.6 percentage points to 72.3%.

Relative to historical norms, mining utilization remained 0.5 percentage point above its long-run average, whereas utilities utilization continued to be well below its long-run average.



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