Of the five Federal Reserve districts which have released their May manufacturing surveys – all are in contraction. A complete summary follows.
There was no market expectations from Bloomberg, and the reported value was -13.1. From the Dallas Fed:
Texas factory activity declined in May after two months of increases, according to business executives responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, fell from 5.8 to -13.1, hitting its lowest reading in a year.
Other measures of current manufacturing activity also reflected contraction this month. The new orders index fell more than 20 points to -14.9 after pushing into positive territory last month. The growth rate of orders index has been negative since late 2014 and fell to -14.7 in May after climbing to near zero in April. The capacity utilization and shipments indexes returned to negative territory after two months of positive readings, coming in at yearlong lows of -11.0 and -11.5,respectively.
Perceptions of broader business conditions were more pessimistic this month. The general business activity index declined from -13.9 to -20.8, and the company outlook index fell 10 points to -16.1.
Latest readings on employment and workweek length indicated a fifth consecutive month of contraction in May. Theemployment index moved down three points to -6.7. Sixteen percent of firms noted net hiring, and 22 percent noted net layoffs in May. The hours worked index posted a double-digit decline from its April reading, coming in at -11.8.
Price pressures were mixed, and wages continued to rise. Input costs rose for a second month in a row, as the raw materials prices index pushed up to 12.4, its highest level since October 2014. The pace of decline in selling prices has slowed in recent months according to the finished goods prices index, which edged up for a third month in a row and came in at -3.3 in May. Meanwhile, the wages and benefits index stayed positive and rose from 16.7 to 21.8, suggesting a slightly accelerated rise in compensation.
Expectations regarding future business conditions were mixed in May. The index of future general business activity fell 2 points to -1.8, while the index measuring future company outlook remained positive but moved down to 4.4 this month. Indexes for future manufacturing activity fell but remained solidly positive.
Source: Dallas Fed
Summary of all Federal Reserve Districts Manufacturing:
Richmond Fed (hyperlink to reports):
z richmond_man.PNG
Kansas Fed (hyperlink to reports):
z kansas_man.PNG
Dallas Fed (hyperlink to reports):
z dallas_man.PNG
Philly Fed (hyperlink to reports):
z philly fed1.PNG
New York Fed (hyperlink to reports):
z empire1.PNG
Federal Reserve Industrial Production – Actual Data (hyperlink to report):
Holding this and other survey’s Econintersect follows accountable for their predictions, the following graph compares the hard data from Industrial Products manufacturing subindex (dark blue bar) and US Census manufacturing shipments (lighter blue bar) to the Dallas Fed survey (light blue bar).
Comparing Surveys to Hard Data:
z survey1.png
In the above graphic, hard data is the long bars, and surveys are the short bars. The arrows on the left side are the key to growth or contraction.
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