Durable Manufacturing Leads the U.S. Economy
table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif; font-size: 16px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;}.tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;}INDUSTRY GROUP Jan. 2011 toJan. 2012 Manufacturing 4.5%Manufacturing (NAICS) 4.7%Motor vehicles and parts 16.9%Aerospace and miscellaneoustransportation equipment 13.3%Fabricated metal products 9.4%Durable manufacturing 8.3%Machinery 8.2%Primary metals 7.4%Textile and product mills 6.1%Mining 5.8%Petroleum and coal products 5.7%Furniture and related products 5.2%Computer and electronic products 4.5%Nonmetallic mineral products 4.1%Plastics and rubber products 2.7%Chemicals 1.5%Nondurable manufacturing 1.1%Wood products 1.0%Electrical equip., appliances,and components 0.3%Printing and support -0.1%Apparel and leather -0.4%Food, beverage, and tobacco products -0.6%Paper -1.8%Electric -6.2%Natural gas -15.2%The chart above is based on data in today's industrial production report from the Federal Reserve, and shows annual percentage gains through January by industry group. The annual growth in manufacturing output at 4.5%-4.7% was more than a full percentage point higher than the overall growth in industrial production of 3.4%. And the durable manufacturing group showed an especially strong annual gain of 8.3%, almost twice the growth rate of total manufacturing, and was led by strong output growth in motor vehicles (16.9%), aerospace equipment (13.3%), fabricated metal products (9.4%) and machinery (8.2%). The chart also shows utilities (electric and natural gas) decreased over the year, probably due to the unseasonably warm winter this year. Nondurable manufacturing increased by only 1.1% overall, but there were some strong gains in that category for petroleum and coal products at 5.7% and textiles at 6.1%. A Reuters article on today's industrial production report commented that "Manufacturing remains the main pillar of the economy," and today's report provides further confirmation that American manufacturing is at the forefront of the economic recovery. 
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