Richmond Fed Manufacturing: Moderate Growth in March

The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Composite Index decreased to 10 for the month of March, down from last month's 16. Investing.com had forecast 12. Because of the highly volatile nature of this index, we include a 3-month moving average to facilitate the identification of trends, now at 8.0, 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.

Richmond Fed Manufacturing

Here is the latest Richmond Fed manufacturing overview.

Fifth District manufacturing activity grew moderately in March, according to the latest survey from the Richmond Fed. The composite index fell from 16 in February to 10 in March but remained in expansionary territory. The fall came from drops in both the shipments and new orders indexes, but the third component, employment, increased. Firms were optimistic, expecting conditions to improve in the coming months.

Survey results indicated growth in both employment and wages in March. However, firms continued to struggle to find workers with the skills they needed. Respondents expected this struggle to persist in the near future but also anticipate continued growth in employment and wages.

The growth rate of prices paid by survey participants fell slightly in March, while growth of prices received remained fairly stable. While this reduced the gap between the two, growth of prices paid continued to outpace growth of prices received. Firms expected growth of both to slow in the next six months. Link to Report

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

since 2000

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).