U.S. Department of Commerce

Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization

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Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization (QPC)

The Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization provides statistics on the rates of capacity utilization for the U.S. manufacturing and publishing sectors.

  • The Federal Reserve Board (FRB) and The Department of Defense (DOD) co-fund the survey.
  • The survey collects data on actual, full, and emergency production levels.
  • Data are obtained from manufacturing and publishing establishments by means of a mailed questionnaire.
  • Respondents are asked to report actual production, an estimate of their full production capability, and an estimate of their national emergency production.
  • From these reported values, full and emergency utilization rates are calculated.
  • The survey produces full and emergency utilization rates for the manufacturing and publishing sectors defined by the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).
  • Final utilization rates are based on information collected from survey respondents.



Latest QPC Release

  • 2012 Second Quarter   Excel [113kb]

Address inquiries concerning this report to U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturing and Construction Division, HQ-7K145, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Washington DC, 20233, or call the survey line at 1-800-201-4647 ext 5.


  Announcements

A new sample of establishments, selected from the 2008 Business Register with updated information from the 2007 Economic Census, was implemented in the first quarter 2010. Beginning with the second quarter 2010, estimates are now released on a 2007 NAICS basis using results from this new sample.



Release Schedule


2012 Release Dates:

1st Qtr: 06/29/12
2nd Qtr: 09/28/12
3rd Qtr: 12/31/12
4th Qtr: 03/29/13

Contact Us


If you have questions, e-mail or call (800) 201-4647 ext 5.

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau | Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization | (301) 763-4667 |  Last Revised: September 26, 2012