by Calculated Risk on 2/23/2017 11:00:00 AM

From the Kansas City Fed: Tenth District Manufacturing Activity Expanded Further

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the February 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 expanded further with continued strong expectations.

“This was the highest reading for our month-over-month composite index since June 2011,” said Wilkerson.  “In addition, the future composite index was the highest since our survey switched to a monthly frequency in 2001.”
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The month-over-month composite index was 14 in February, its highest reading since June 2011, up from 9 in both January and December.  The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery time, and raw materials inventory indexes.  Activity in both durable and nondurable goods plants increased, particularly for metals, machinery, computer, and electronic products.  Most month-over-month indexes improved moderately in February.  The new orders, order backlog, and employment indexes all edged higher, and the new orders for exports index moved into positive territory for the first time in over a year. ... The future composite index moved higher from 27 to 29, its highest reading since the survey moved to a monthly frequency in 2001. 
emphasis added

The Kansas City region was hit hard by the decline in oil prices, but activity is expanding solidly again. The regional Fed surveys suggest a strong reading for the ISM manufacturing index for February.