U.S. Data Pulse: April Industrial Production: Manufacturing Gains Broaden

Research evidence excerpt

U.S. Data Pulse: April Industrial Production: Manufacturing Gains Broaden

UpdateM

Manufacturing activity continues to improve

Industrial production rose 0.7% m/m in April, above consensus expectations of 0.3%.

March was revised up to -0.3% from -0.5%. Utilities boosted the headline, while

underlying manufacturing momentum remained resilient. Overall, the report suggests

underlying manufacturing activity continued to improve.

Underlying manufacturing activity

Nonauto manufacturing output continued to expand, rising 0.3% m/m. Nonauto

manufacturing activity has improved meaningfully since late 2024, swinging from

contraction to expansion. In April, nonauto manufacturing output was up 1.1% y/y,

compared to 0.8% in March, and 0.9% a year earlier. On a 3m/3m annualized basis,

nonauto manufacturing output continued to expand at 3.4%, suggesting underlying factory

momentum remained constructive. We do not see signs of interruption to underlying

manufacturing strength despite higher energy prices.

Manufacturing details

Within manufacturing, durable goods output rose 1.2%, , with gains broadly distributed

across sectors. Aerospace production rose 1.6%, while motor vehicle output rose 3.7%,

reversing part of March's 2.4% decrease. Nondurable manufacturing output edged down

0.1%, although petroleum and coal products increased 1.0%.

Industry breadth

Industry breadth improved materially. Around 53.9% of industries reported gains on the

month, up from averages of 48.5% in 2025Q4 and 51.2% in 2025Q3. Meanwhile, 50.8% of

industries reported gains relative to six months earlier, suggesting underlying activity

remained relatively broad-based.

Market-group details

On a market-group basis, consumer goods production rose 0.9% in April, while business

equipment output grew 1.5%.