NEW YORK – “Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region continued to contract in October,” according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. “The index of overall activity remained at last month's level with all broad indicators — shipments, new orders, and employment — landing in negative territory. Continued softness was also evident in most other indicators. District contacts reported more moderate weakness in backlogs and capacity utilization, but noted that delivery times and raw materials inventories grew at a somewhat quicker pace.”
The manufacturing index remained negative 6 in October unchanged from negative 6 in September.
Index readings above zero show expansion, while numbers below zero indicate contraction.
Shipments slid to negative 6 from negative 2, the Fed reported. Volume of new orders grew to negative 5 from negative 17, while the backlog of orders index increased to negative 15 from negative 23.
The capacity utilization index improved to negative 4 from negative 11, while the vendor lead time index reversed to positive 2 from negative 2. The number of employees index reversed to negative 7 from positive 7 while the average workweek index was negative 1 after a negative 7 reading last month, and the wages index dipped to 5 from 6.
As for future outlook (six months from now), the shipments index was 28, up from 27 last month, while the volume of new orders index decreased to 25 from 27, and backlog of orders slipped to 9 from 12. Capacity utilization gained to 21 from 20, the vendor lead time index fell to 10 from 11, the number of employees index rose to 13 from 3, while the average workweek index was at 3, down from 10 the previous month, and the wages index was 19, off from 24 last month. The capital expenditures index was 13, after 5 last month.
The finished goods inventories index rose to 23 from 22, while the raw materials index grew to 25 from 18 the previous month. The current trend in prices paid fell to 2.20 in October from 2.80 in September, while gaining to 1.75 from 1.61 for prices received. The expected trend for the next six months decreased to 3.41 from 4.45 for prices paid, and slid to 1.46 from 2.39 for prices received.
All firms surveyed are located within the Fifth Federal Reserve District, which includes the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and most of West Virginia.
