Richmond Fed Manufacturing Slowed In December

Fifth District manufacturing activity slowed in December, according to the most recent survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite index fell to -5 in December from -1 in November. 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 0.7, 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.

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Here is the latest Richmond Fed manufacturing overview.

Fifth District manufacturing activity slowed in December, according to the most recent survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite index fell from −1 in November to −5 in December, weighed down by decreases in the already negative indexes for shipments and new orders, while the third component — employment — increased slightly. Manufacturers also reported weakness in local business conditions and capacity utilization, but they were optimistic that conditions would improve in the coming months.

Many firms saw growth in employment and wages in December. However, respondents reported declines in the average workweek, as this index decreased to −15, its lowest reading since April 2009. Manufacturers continued to report difficulty finding workers with the necessary skills and expected that struggle to continue in the next six months.

The growth rate of prices paid by manufacturing firms rose in December, while that of prices received fell. Respondents expected growth of both prices paid and prices received to slow in the near future. Link to Report

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

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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).

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

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

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