Richmond Fed Manufacturing: Little Change In March

Fifth District manufacturing activity changed little in March, according to the most recent survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite index rose to 2 in March from -2 in February. Investing.com had forecast -9. Because of the highly volatile nature of this index, we include a 3-month moving average to facilitate the identification of trends is now at 6.7, which indicates expansion. The complete data series behind today's Richmond Fed manufacturing report, which dates from November 1993, is available here.

Here is a snapshot of the complete Richmond Fed Manufacturing Composite series.

Here is the latest Richmond Fed manufacturing overview.

Fifth District manufacturing activity remained fairly flat in March, according to the most recent survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite index remained close to 0, rising from −2 in February to 2 in March. The indexes for shipments and new orders were above their February values, but the third component—employment—decreased. Manufacturers reported weakening local business conditions and a decrease in backlog of orders. Survey respondents were pessimistic, expecting weaker business conditions and a drop in shipments and new orders in the coming months.

Survey results suggested a drop in employment but continued growth in wages in recent weeks. Employers continued to struggle to find workers with the necessary skills and expected this difficulty to persist in the next six months.

Manufacturers reported a drop in the growth rates of both prices paid and prices received, with growth of prices paid slightly outpacing that of prices received. Growth rates of both prices paid and prices received were expected to increase in the near future. Link to Report

Here is a somewhat closer look at the index since the turn of the century.

Is today's Richmond composite a clue of what to expect in the next PMI composite? We'll find out when the next ISM Manufacturing survey is released (below).

Let's compare all five Regional Manufacturing indicators. Here is a three-month moving average overlay of each since 2001 (for those with data).

Here is the same chart including the average of the five.