Kansas City Fed: Regional Manufacturing expanded in July

From the Kansas City Fed: Tenth District Manufacturing Survey Rose Moderately

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 rose moderately, although producers' expectations for future activity eased somewhat.

“We saw several positive things in this month's survey. Production and shipments rebounded after being disrupted by storms last month," said Wilkerson. "And while some firms remain hesitant to expand, overall capital spending and hiring plans remain positive.”

The month-over-month composite index was 6 in July, up from -5 in June and 2 in May ... Most other month-over-month indexes also improved. The production index increased from -17 to 21, its highest level since June 2011, and the shipments and new orders indexes also rose markedly. ... In contrast, the order backlog index edged lower from -4 to -7, and the employment index also eased slightly

So far all of the regional surveys - except Richmond - showed improvement in July. The Dallas Fed regional survey will be released next Monday, and the ISM index for July will be released Thursday, August 1st.

Most of the regional surveys (and the Markit Flash PMI) suggest stronger expansion in the ISM index for July.