Kansas City Fed Survey: Record Growth In March

By Jill Mislinski

The latest index came in at 37, up from 29 last month and a record high, indicating steady continued expansion in March. The future outlook rose to 41. All figures are seasonally adjusted. Here is a snapshot of the complete Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey.

Quarterly data for this indicator dates back to 1995, but monthly data is only available from 2001.

Here is an excerpt from the latest report:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the March 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 grew at a record pace, and expectations for future activity remained solid. “Regional factory activity increased at a record pace in March,” said Wilkerson. “However, due to increasing input costs and supply chain disruptions, nearly a quarter of firms noted a significant decrease in profit margins since the beginning of the year, and another 44% reported a slight decrease in profit margins.” [Full report here]

Here is a snapshot of the complete Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey.

The next chart is an overlay of the general and future outlook indexes – the outlook six months ahead. Future factory indexes rose to 41.

For comparison, here is the latest ISM Manufacturing survey.

Let’s compare all five Regional Manufacturing indicators. Here is a three-month moving average overlay of each since 2001 (for those with data).

Here is the same chart including the average of the five.

Original Post

Editor’s Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.