From the Kansas City Fed: Tenth District Manufacturing Activity was Largely Flat
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the November Manufacturing Survey today. According to Chad Wilkerson, vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the survey revealed that growth in Tenth District manufacturing activity was largely flat, although expectations for future activity improved considerably.
“We saw our composite index move just slightly into positive territory for the first time since February, as some segments of durable manufacturing improved even as activity in our energy states remained sluggish,” said Wilkerson.
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Tenth District manufacturing activity was largely flat in November, although expectations for future activity improved considerably from the previous few months. Most price indexes edged back down after rising slightly last month.The month-over-month composite index was 1 in November, up from -1 in October and -8 in September
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Most future factory indexes continued to rise after falling markedly a few months ago. The future composite index jumped from -1 to 8, and the future production, shipments, and new orders indexes also increased. The future employment index rose from 6 to 13, its highest level in nine months.
emphasis added
The declines for most of this year in manufacturing activity, in the Kansas City region, was probably mostly due to lower oil prices and weaker exports due to the strong dollar.