by Calculated Risk on 8/25/2011 11:00:00 AM

From the Kansas City Fed: Manufacturing Sector Continues to Expand Modestly

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the August Manufacturing Survey today. According to Chad Wilkerson, vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the survey revealed that Tenth District manufacturing activity continued to expand modestly, and producers remained generally positive about future months.

“Factory activity in our region continues to be buoyed by strong growth among agriculture and energy-related manufacturers,” said Wilkerson. “New orders accelerated at these firms in August even as some other firms experienced softness. But hiring and capital spending plans remain fairly solid across broader categories of producers.”
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The month-over-month composite index was 3 in August, unchanged from 3 in July and down from 14 in June. ... Manufacturing activity slowed in nondurable goods factories, while growth in factory activity increased in durable goods producing plants, particularly for machinery, fabricated metal, and electronic equipment products. Other month-over-month indexes were mixed in August. The production index fell from 2 to -2, and the shipments index also moved into negative territory. However, the new orders index rebounded after dropping last month, and the employment and new orders for export indexes also rose.

Here is a table of the regional surveys in July and August; the Dallas Fed Texas Manufacturing will be released on Monday, August 29th.

Manufacturing Survey	July	August
Empire State	-3.76	-7.7
Philly Fed	3.2	-30.7
Richmond Fed	-1	-10
Kansas City Fed	3	3
Dallas Fed	10.8	---

Most of the regional surveys were very weak in August. The ISM index for August will be released Thursday, Sept 1st.