The latest index came in at 3, down 10 from last month, indicating "slow" expansion in August. The future outlook fell to 10. All figures are seasonally adjusted. Here is a snapshot of the complete Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey.

Quarterly data for this indicator dates back to 1995, but monthly data is only available from 2001.

Here is an excerpt from the latest report:

Tenth District manufacturing activity growth slowed considerably in August but remained slightly positive. Expectations for future activity eased somewhat but were still solid overall (Chart 1, Tables 1 & 2). Monthly survey price indexes fell to their lowest levels in over a year. Both price indexes saw a significant easing in growth from a month and year ago. Expectations for future raw materials prices decreased further, while finished goods prices were expected to rise modestly.

The month-over-month composite index was 3 in August, down from 13 in July and 12 in June (Tables 1 & 2). The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery time, and raw materials inventory indexes. In August, the slower pace in factory growth was driven by decreased in activity in wood products, machinery, computer products, and transportation equipment manufacturing. Month-over-month indexes were mostly negative in August. The new orders index declined to its lowest level since May 2020, and indexes for production, shipments, order backlog, and inventory materials declined moderately. On the other hand, the employment index remained moderately positive, and the finished goods inventory index increased slightly. Year-over-year factory indexes decreased, with a composite index of 36. Production, shipments, and new orders indexes declined moderately compared to a year ago. The future composite index was 10 in August, a moderate decline from 26 in July. Nearly all future indexes decreased from the previous month, with order backlog and inventory indexes falling into negative territory. [Full report here]

Here is a snapshot of the complete Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey.

The next chart is an overlay of the general and future outlook indexes — the outlook six months ahead. Future factory indexes fell to 10.

For comparison, here is the latest ISM Manufacturing survey.

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.

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