by Calculated Risk on 2/28/2011 11:31:00 AM

From the Dallas Fed: Texas Manufacturing Activity Picks Up

Texas factory activity increased in February, according to business executives responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, rose to 10 following a reading near zero in January.
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Labor market indicators continued to reflect more hiring, a longer workweek and rising labor costs. The employment index came in at a reading of 11, up from 9 last month. The hours worked index was unchanged at 4, while the wages and benefits index fell from 15 to 9.
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Prices continued to climb in February. The raw materials price index edged up from 62 to 63, with 64 percent of firms noting an increase in input costs compared with only 1 percent noting a decrease.

This is the last of the regional Fed surveys for February. The regional surveys provide a hint about the ISM manufacturing index, as the following graph shows.

Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery.

The New York and Philly Fed surveys are averaged together (dashed green, through February), and averaged five Fed surveys (blue, through February) including New York, Philly, Richmond, Dallas and Kansas City. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) PMI (red) is through January (right axis).

The ISM index for February will released tomorrow, Mar 1st. The consensus is for a slight decrease to 60.5 from the strong 60.8 in January.

The regional surveys suggest the ISM manufacturing index will be around 60 (strong expansion). The 60.8 reading in January was the highest level since May 2004, and any reading above 61.4 would be the highest since 1983.