Did you go to university? first american loans U.S. capacity utilization has been declining for several years. During 2009 U.S. capacity utilization declined below 70% to approximately 64% in the manufacturing line of business. Utilization this low suggests that some (perhaps many) corporations are investigating downsizing options (i.e., selling capital) to maintain acceptable Rates of Return (ROR). Low capacity utilization is indicative of corporations conducting insufficient business to support their size, not corporations stressed by high taxes.