Economy
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Now Down 11 Straight Months
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The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is not one of the more widely followed regional Fed branches. That being said, it does offer a view of the agricultural and energy sectors that so many people are interested in now. This branch released its January Manufacturing Survey on Thursday, and the composite index was flat at -9 in January, versus the same -9 reading in December.
The Manufacturing Production Index was also flat at -8 in January, versus the -8 reading in December. The six-month expectations production index fell to 14 in January from 19 in December. Its six-month expectations composite index ticked lower to 5 in January from 6 in December.
Kansas City’s summary is simple: the survey revealed that Tenth District manufacturing activity fell again in January.
Economic watchers should consider that the January survey incorporates new seasonal adjustment factors, which makes historical indexes look slightly different from prior numbers. It was said that the new seasonal factors will be used throughout 2016.
Another consideration here is that you might not care about Kansas City in your mind until you consider what a broad area this covers on the map. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (the 10th District) covers the following areas: all of Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wyoming. It also covers the western third of Missouri and the northern half of New Mexico. That is no small area, and it captures much of the agriculture and energy markets.
The Kansas City Fed’s official quote said:
We saw another moderate drop in regional factory activity in January, marking the eleventh straight month of slight to moderate declines. However, firms remained optimistic that conditions would improve slightly in coming months.
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