by Calculated Risk on 1/26/2017 11:00:00 AM

From the Kansas City Fed: Tenth District Manufacturing Activity Continued to Expand Moderately

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the January Manufacturing Survey today. According to Chad Wilkerson, vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the survey revealed that Tenth District manufacturing activity continued to expand moderately with strong expectations for future activity.

“We had another solid composite index reading in January, and firms’ expectations for future activity were the highest in more than twelve years,” said Wilkerson.
...
The month-over-month composite index was 9 in January, unchanged from 9 in December but up from 0 in November.  The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery time, and raw materials inventory indexes.  Activity in durable goods plants increased moderately, particularly for metals, electronics, and machinery, while nondurable goods plants expanded at a slower pace with food production falling considerably.  Most month-over-month indexes improved slightly in January.  The production index moved slightly higher from 18 to 20, and the shipments, new orders, and order backlog indexes also increased.  The employment index moderated somewhat from 8 to 6, and the new orders for exports index remained negative.  ...
emphasis added

The Kansas City region was hit hard by the decline in oil prices, but activity is expanding again.