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Sunday, October 18, 2026

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Production · Sunday, October 18, 2026

Factories and power plants made more in September

The File desk · Oct 18, 2026, 11:30 AM UTC

Status

Confirmed from the Federal Reserve G.17 release dated Oct. 16, 2026. The release does not print a clock time.
  • Confirmed
    Industrial production rose 0.7 percent in September.
  • Confirmed
    Utilities rose 3.5 percent. Manufacturing rose 0.3 percent. Mining rose 0.2 percent.
  • Confirmed
    Capacity utilization moved up to 76.9 percent.
U.S. factories, mines, and power plants turned out more in September. Industrial production rose 0.7 percent, the Federal Reserve said Friday.1
Power plants did the sharp lifting. Utility output jumped. Factories rose more slowly. Mines barely moved.2
The Fed said September output was above a year earlier. Plants were using a bit more of their capacity than in August.3
Why it matters (Estimate). The report says the country made more goods and power last month. It does not say whether that pace will last into the Fed's Oct. 27–28 meeting.
Utilities, not the factory floor, accounted for the sharpest rise.

Notes

  1. 1.Federal Reserve, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization, G.17, release date Oct. 16, 2026. “Industrial production (IP) increased 0.7 percent in September after edging up 0.1 percent in August.” In the third quarter, industrial production increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent. The page does not print a clock time. https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g17/current/default.htm
  2. 2.Same release. Manufacturing output rose 0.3 percent. Mining moved up 0.2 percent. Utilities increased 3.5 percent.
  3. 3.Same release. At 104.0 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in September was 2.2 percent above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization moved up to 76.9 percent, 2.5 percentage points below its long-run average from 1972 through 2025.

What is still unknown or disputed

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization, G.17

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System · October 16, 2026

    Industrial production (IP) increased 0.7 percent in September after edging up 0.1 percent in August. Manufacturing output rose 0.3 percent. The index for utilities increased 3.5 percent. Capacity utilization moved up to 76.9 percent.

    https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g17/current/default.htm