US Capacity Utilization Falls Below Expectations

US capacity utilization fell to 75.7% in March 2026, down from a downwardly revised 76.1% in February and below market expectations of 76.3%. The rate stands 3.7 percentage points below its long-run average for 1972–2025, with declines broad-based across sectors. The utilities sector saw the sharpest drop, with its operating rate falling to 70.3%, 13.7 percentage points below its historical average. Manufacturing utilization edged down to 75.3%, leaving it 2.9 percentage points below average, while mining utilization declined to 84.5%, or 0.7 percentage points below its long-run average.

US capacity utilization stood at 76.3% in February 2026, unchanged from the previous month and 3.1 percentage points below its long-run average for 1972–2025. In the manufacturing sector, utilization remained flat at 75.6%, which is 2.6 percentage points below its historical average. The operating rate in mining rose by 0.7 percentage points to 85.0%, while the utilities sector saw a 0.7-point decline to 73.0%. Despite the monthly increase, mining utilization remained 0.2 percentage points below its long-run average, while utilities operated at a rate 11.0 percentage points below theirs.

US capacity utilization increased to 76.2% in January 2026 from a downwardly revised 75.7% in December but slightly below analysts' forecasts of 76.5%. Despite remaining 3.2 percentage points below the 1972–2025 average, this was the strongest reading since July 2025. Capacity utilization for manufacturing increased 0.4 percentage points in January to 75.6%, a rate that is 2.6 percentage points below its long-run average. The operating rate for mining ticked down 0.1 percentage point to 84.4%, and the operating rate for utilities moved up 1.3 percentage points to 72.9%. The utilization rates for mining and utilities were 0.8 percentage points and 11.1 percentage points below their long-run averages, respectively.