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Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization: MQ-C2

• Plant Capacity is broadly defined as the maximum or optimum level of production or output.

• The purpose of the Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization (QPC) is to provide statistics on the rates of capacity utilization for the U.S. manufacturing and publishing sectors on a quarterly basis. The survey is conducted jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve Board.

• The Quarterly Plant Capacity Utilization Survey collects the plant's actual production, and the estimated value of production at full production capability. It also collects data on work patterns by shift including number of days and hours worked, and number of production workers.

• We calculate rates of capacity utilization in U.S. manufacturing and publishing plants. An industry's capacity utilization rate is the ratio of actual value of production to the level of production at full production capability. This information is collected quarterly on the Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity (MQ-C2).

Forms and Instructions:

The web-based Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity is conducted through the Census Bureau's Census taker system.

The Census Taker requires:

1. A web browser with 128-bit encryption (most browsers released since 1998 are sufficient).
2. A username and password that is located on the form below the address label.

Click here to view Census Taker brochure:      Census taker brochure

Frequently Asked Questions

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