NEW YORK - The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index was up 0.4% in September to a seasonally adjusted level of 85.2, as two of the four regional sectors showed improvement, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Thursday.
Nationally, the Federal Reserve Board's industrial production index for manufacturing gained 0.4% in September. Overall manufacturing output in the region gained 7.2% from a year earlier, compared to 4.3% growth in output nationally in that period.
The August report showed a revised 0.5% rise to 84.8, originally reported as a 0.6% rise to 85.0.
The regional auto sector's output increased 1.2% in the month, after a 0.5% gain in August, while national output grew 1.1%. Nationally, auto sector output gained 8.0% from a year ago while the Midwest auto sector's output increased 9.9% year-over-year, according to the Fed.
The regional resource sector's output climbed 0.5% in September, following a 0.1% dip in August. Nationally, resource output rose 0.3% in the month. Compared to September 2010, regional resource output was off 1.4%, while national resource output slid 0.4%. "The food, wood, paper, and chemical subsectors of the regional resource sector increased from August to September, but the nonmetallic subsector decreased,” the Fed said.
The regional machinery sector's output declined 0.1% in the month, following a 1.5% increase in August. Nationally, machinery sector output gained 0.7% in the month. On a year-over-year basis, machinery output grew 12.9% in the region while rising 6.7% in the nation.
The regional steel sector's output slipped 0.5% in the month, following a 0.3% rise in August. Nationally, steel sector output was off 0.3% in the month. On a year-over-year basis, steel output grew 15.5% in the region while climbing 9.2% in the nation.
