2026.01.1615:12:58UTC+00US Capacity Utilization Edges Higher in December

In December 2025, the United States experienced an increase in capacity utilization, rising to 76.3% from 76.1% in November, nudging past market predictions which had pegged the figure at 76.0%. Although this marks a slight improvement, the overall rate is still 3.2 percentage points beneath its long-term average from 1972 to 2024, suggesting lingering underutilization in productive capacity. Within the manufacturing sector, capacity utilization held steady at 75.6%, still trailing its historical average by 2.6 percentage points. Conversely, the mining sector saw a decline of 0.5 percentage points, bringing utilization to 85.7%, while the utilities sector experienced a notable rise, with its operating rate increasing by 1.6 percentage points to 72.3%. Compared to historical averages, mining utilization remains 0.5 percentage points above its norm, whereas utility utilization continues to be significantly below its long-term average.