Industrial capacity utilization in the US was unchanged from the previous month at 76.3% in August of 2026, the highest in one year, but slightly under market expectations of 76.4%. Despite the growing momentum since the start of the year, the result remained well under the long-run average of 79.4%. Capacity rose for manufacturing (76% vs 75.9 in July) as utilization rates continued to surge for computer and electronic products (77.2% vs 76.2%) and electrical equipment (86.6% vs 85.5%), aligned with soaring levels of capital expenditure on AI infrastructure and compute. Meanwhile, nondurable manufacturing utilization rates fell to 75.6% from 76%.