NEW YORK - The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index was up 0.7% in October to a seasonally adjusted level of 85.5, 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 0.5% in October. Overall manufacturing output in the region gained 7.3% from a year earlier, compared to 4.5% growth in output nationally in that period.
The September report showed a revised 0.2% rise to 84.9, originally reported as a 0.4% increase to 85.1.
The regional auto sector's output increased 2.3% in the month, after a 0.3% gain in September, while national output grew 2.2%. Nationally, auto sector output gained 9.0% from a year ago while the Midwest auto sector's output increased 11.0% year-over-year, according to the Fed.
The regional resource sector's output climbed 0.5% in October, following a 0.6% jump in September. Nationally, resource output rose 0.3% in the month. Compared to October 2010, regional resource output was off 0.4%, while national resource output rose 0.5%. "The food and chemical subsectors of the regional resource sector increased from September to October, but the wood, paper, and nonmetallic subsectors decreased,” the Fed said.
The regional machinery sector's output increased 0.3% in the month, following a 0.2% decline in September. Nationally, machinery sector output gained 0.5% in the month. On a year-over-year basis, machinery output grew 11.6% in the region while rising 6.5% in the nation.
The regional steel sector's output slipped 0.4% in the month, following a 0.7% drop in September. Nationally, steel sector output was up 0.4% in the month. On a year-over-year basis, steel output grew 14.3% in the region while climbing 9.4% in the nation.
