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Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Activity grew at a modest pace in May
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Tenth District manufacturing activity continued to grow at a modest pace in May, and expectations for future activity remained mostly solid (Chart 1). Price indexes showed little change, with most indexes lower than a year ago and some slight upward movement in future raw materials prices.
Factories Report Continued Modest Growth
The month-over-month composite index was 4 in May, similar to a reading of 5 in April but down from 10 in March (Table 1). The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery time, and raw materials inventory indexes. Growth continued to grow modestly at most durable and nondurable production plants, with stronger growth for food, plastics, and metals products. Most month-over-month indexes slowed slightly in May but remained positive, with production, shipments, and new orders indexes all decreasing. In contrast, the employment index rebounded from 2 to 5, and both inventory indexes also increased. Most year-over-year factory indexes showed little change, with the composite index inching higher from 22 to 23. The future composite index also edged up, moving from 11 to 12, and most future factory activity indexes remained stable or moved slightly higher.
Posted: May 23, 2019 Thursday 10:00 AM