Thursday, May 24, 2012

Things Must Be Looking Up in Wichita

Ben Bernanke's newly printed money appears to be making its way into the middle of the country.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City just released the bank's May Manufacturing Survey. 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 rebounded, and producers were more optimistic than in previous months.

The month-over-month composite index was 9 in May, up from 3 in April.

The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery time, and raw materials inventory indexes. Manufacturing growth increased in most durable and nondurable goods-producing plants, with the exception of metal products which were largely unchanged. Most other month-over-month indexes also rose in May. The production index jumped from 0 to 17, and the shipments, new orders, and order backlog indexes also improved markedly.

The majority of year-over-year factory indexes edged higher in May. The composite year-over-year index rose from 24 to 27, and the production and new orders indexes also increased. The order backlog index posted its highest level in nearly 7 years, and the capital expenditures index edged up from 18 to 21.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City serves the Tenth Federal Reserve District, encompassing the western third of Missouri; all of Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wyoming; and the northern half of New Mexico.

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