by Calculated Risk on 7/25/2019 11:00:00 AM

From the Kansas City Fed: Tenth District Manufacturing Largely Unchanged Again in July

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the July 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 was largely unchanged in July, while expectations for future activity remained moderately positive.

“Regional factory growth remained basically flat this month, and a number of firms noted increased uncertainty because of trade concerns and weaker domestic demand,” said Wilkerson. “However, nearly 80 percent of manufacturing contacts reported confidence in their local economy.”
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The month-over-month composite index was -1 in July, similar to the reading of 0 in June and slightly lower than an index of 4 in May. The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery time, and raw materials inventory indexes. The small change in manufacturing activity was mostly driven by a decline at durable production plants, including computers, electronic products, appliances, and miscellaneous manufacturing. Most month-over-month indexes edged lower in July, and the new orders, employment, and finished goods inventory indexes turned negative. However, the volume of shipments was flat after last month’s slowdown, and supplier delivery time increased. Nearly all of the year-over-year factory indexes increased, and the composite index rose from 4 to 11. The future composite index remained moderately positive, inching down from 11 to 9, while expectations for production, new orders, and capital expenditures edged higher.
emphasis added

Another weak regional report.