By Maria Martinez
Manufacturing activity in the U.S. central Atlantic region continued its expansion in April, according to a survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond released Tuesday.
The Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity’s index increased to 14 in April from 13 in March, above economists’ consensus forecast of 10 in a poll by The Wall Street Journal. A positive reading suggests that factory activity expanded over the month.
The index is compiled by surveying manufacturing firms across the Fifth Federal Reserve District, which includes the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and most of West Virginia.
Despite the increase, only one of the three component indexes which form the composite indicator increased compared with the previous month, the Richmond Fed said.
The shipments index increased to 17 from 9 the previous month, while the volume of new orders moved down slightly to 6 in April from 10 in March. The employment index fell to 22 in April from 23.
The vendor lead time index went down to 36 from 44. But vendor lead times, as well as the order backlogs index, signal little improvement in supply-chain bottlenecks.
The index for both finished goods and raw materials inventories remained low, and firms expected that to persist for the foreseeable future, the Richmond Fed said.
The average growth rate of prices paid increased slightly in April, while the growth rate of prices received from customers edged down slightly.
Manufacturers in the area were more optimistic about the short-term outlook than in the previous month. The future indexes for shipments, new orders and employment all rose slightly, according to the report.
Write to Maria Martinez at [email protected]
