Kansas City Fed: Regional Manufacturing Activity "Expanded More Rapidly" in April

From the Kansas City Fed: Tenth District Manufacturing Activity Expanded More Rapidly

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the April Manufacturing Survey today. According to Chad Wilkerson, vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the survey revealed that Tenth District manufacturing activity expanded more rapidly in April, and optimism remained high for future activity.

“Factory activity accelerated in April despite concerns among many firms about changes in international trade policy,” said Wilkerson. “Price indexes also continued to rise.”
...
The month-over-month composite index was 26 in April, up from readings of 17 in March and 17 in February. The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery time, and raw materials inventory indexes. Factory activity accelerated at both durable and nondurable goods plants, particularly for machinery, plastics, and chemicals. Month-over-month indexes increased considerably. The production index jumped from 20 to 33, and the shipments, new orders, and order backlog indexes also rose. The employment and new orders for exports indexes were unchanged. The raw materials inventory index increased from 11 to 17, while the finished goods inventory index fell slightly.
emphasis added

So far most of the regional Fed surveys have been solid in April, although Richmond showed some slowing.

from Calculated Risk https://ift.tt/2HuGOZO