by Calculated Risk on 4/28/2011 12:18:00 PM

From the Kansas City Fed: Survey of Tenth District Manufacturing

Growth in Tenth District manufacturing activity moderated somewhat in April, but remained solid. Most producers continued to report healthy
expectations. Raw materials prices continued to rise, and more producers raised selling prices.

The month-over-month composite index was 14 in April, down from 27 in March and 19 in February. The employment index dropped from 25 to 17 ...

Note: both the composite index and employment index were at record highs last month. Any reading above zero indicates expansion.

This is the last of the regional Fed surveys for April. The regional surveys provide a hint about the ISM manufacturing index, as the following graph shows.

Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery.

The New York and Philly Fed surveys are averaged together (dashed green, through April), and averaged five Fed surveys (blue, through April) including New York, Philly, Richmond, Dallas and Kansas City. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) PMI (red) is through March (right axis).

The regional surveys suggest the ISM manufacturing index will in the mid-to-high 50s range (fairly strong expansion). The ISM index for April will be released on Monday, May 2nd.

Earlier:
• Advance Report: Real Annualized GDP Grew at 1.8% in Q1
• Residential Investment and Non-Residential investment in Structures at Record Lows as Percent of GDP