by Calculated Risk on 1/23/2020 11:00:00 AM

From the Kansas City Fed: Tenth District Manufacturing Activity Nearly Flat in January

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the January 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 nearly flat in January while expectations for future activity expanded.

“Regional factory activity was down only slightly in January, and firms reported a modest increase in employment,” said Wilkerson. “Contacts reported slightly less difficulty finding workers than six months ago, but still over 60 percent of firms were experiencing labor shortages.”
...
The month-over-month composite index was -1 in January, slightly higher than -5 in December and -2 in November. The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery time, and raw materials inventory indexes. The slight decrease in district manufacturing activity was driven by declines in: nonmetallic mineral products, primary metal, fabricated metal products, computer and electronic products, beverage and tobacco products, and printing manufacturing, while several other industries improved. Most month-over-month indexes remained slightly negative in January, and inventories continued to decline. However, the month-over-month employment index rose back into positive territory for the first time in over six months and the supplier delivery time index was also slightly positive.
emphasis added

Another weak Tenth District manufacturing report.