Research >> Economics
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing activity rebounded
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Tenth District manufacturing activity rebounded in September as firms’ orders picked up slightly, and expectations mostly held steady with last month’s positive outlook. Most price indexes in the survey inched higher, but still remained at fairly low levels.
The net percentage of firms reporting month-over-month increases in production in September was 16, up from -7 in August and 2 in July (Tables 1 & 2, Chart). Production was up at both durable and non-durable goods producing plants, with the notable exception of aircraft manufacturing. All other month-over-month indexes were also higher than in August. The shipments index jumped from -12 to 12, and the new orders, order backlog, and new orders for exports indexes also rose. The employment index moved into positive territory for the first time in over a year, and the employee workweek index also increased considerably. Both inventory indexes edged up slightly, but continued to be in negative territory.
Posted: September 24, 2009 Thursday 11:00 AM