by Calculated Risk on 4/24/2014 11:08:00 AM

From the Kansas City Fed: Growth in Tenth District Manufacturing Activity Moderated Slightly

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the April 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 moderated slightly after rising to a two-year high in March, but producers’ expectations for future factory activity climbed higher.

“Regional factory expansion was not quite as strong in April as in March, when better weather provided a boost”, said Wilkerson. “But April’s numbers were otherwise the best in nearly two years, and firms were generally optimistic.”

The month-over-month composite index was 7 in April, down from 10 in March but up from 4 in February. The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery time, and raw materials inventory indexes. ... the order backlog index moved into positive territory for the first time in four months, and the employment index rebounded after falling last month.
emphasis added

The last regional Fed manufacturing survey for April will be released on Monday, April 28th (Dallas Fed). In general the regional surveys have been positive in April and suggest further improvement in the ISM manufacturing index.