NEW YORK - The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index was up 0.6% in August to a seasonally adjusted level of 85.0, as three of the four regional sectors showed improvement, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.
Nationally, the Federal Reserve Board's industrial production index for manufacturing gained 0.4% in August. Overall manufacturing output in the region gained 7.6% from a year earlier, compared to 4.2% growth in output nationally in that period.
The July report showed a revised 0.3% rise to 84.4, originally reported as a 0.5% rise to 84.8.
The regional machinery sector's output grew 1.4% in the month, following a 0.7% decrease in July. Nationally, machinery sector output gained 0.7% in the month. On a year-over-year basis, machinery output grew 12.8% in the region while rising 6.4% in the nation.
The regional auto sector's output increased 0.8% in the month, after a 1.5% gain in July, while national output grew 1.4%. Nationally, auto sector output gained 7.2% from a year ago while the Midwest auto sector's output increased 10.3% year-over-year, according to the Fed.
The regional steel sector's output jumped 0.8% in the month, following a 1.0% rise in July. Nationally, steel sector output was up 0.4% in the month. On a year-over-year basis, steel output grew 17.1% in the region while climbing 10.3% in the nation.
The regional resource sector's output slipped 0.1% in August, following a 0.2% dip in July. Nationally, resource output was unchanged in the month. Compared to August 2010, regional resource output was off 0.8%, while national resource output rose 0.2%. "The food, wood, paper, and nonmetallic subsectors of the regional resource sector decreased from July to August, but the chemical subsector increased,” the Fed said.
