US Data: Richmond Fed Survey - Summary

Release for: October 2018

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Diffusion indexes, seasonally adjusted

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                  Oct-18  Sep-18  Aug-18  Jul-18  Jun-18  May-18

MANUFACTURING SECTOR

INDICATORS:

Now vs. a month ago:

Manufacturing Index                   15      29      24      20      21      17

Shipments                              7      33      23      16      17      17

Volume of new orders                  20      34      25      22      22      16

Backlog of orders                     13      20      15       4      20      10

Capacity utilization                  20      20      18       8      20      19

Vendor lead time                      23      32      35      17      18      19

Local business conditions              8      27      13      18      13      14

Capital expenditures                  21      29      21      25      26      23

Finished Goods Inventories             1       6       4      10       2       7

Raw Materials Inventories             14      14      15      20      19      20

Equipment and Software                16      20      19      18      17      24

Services Expenditures                 -1       5      12       6       1      11

Number of employees                   19      16      25      22      23      18

Wages                                 28      33      27      22      27      27

Available Skills                     -22     -11     -17     -16     -13      -4

Average workweek                      16      19      16      10      11      11

Price trends:

Current

Prices paid                         5.68    3.47    3.31    3.54    3.14    2.77

Prices received                     2.84    1.93    1.58    2.24    1.72    1.76

Six months from now

Prices Paid                         3.87    3.04    3.24    2.84    2.00    2.40

Prices received                     2.66    2.37    2.63    2.74    1.46    1.92

SERVICE SECTOR INDICATORS:

Now vs. one month ago:

Revenues (or budget)                  -1      18      31      23      19      16

Price trends:

Current

Prices paid                         4.07    2.69    2.03    2.75    2.55    2.18

Prices received                     2.64    2.42    1.68    2.29    2.09    1.33

Six months from now

Prices Paid                         3.73    2.89    2.55    2.98    2.80    2.44

Prices received                     2.99    2.55    2.19    2.55    2.37    1.60

The manufacturing index is a gauge of broad activity in the District's  

 manufacturing sector. It is a composite index representing a weighted  

 average of the shipments (33%), new orders (40%) and employment (27%)  

 indexes.                                                               

Each index equals the percentage reporting increase minus the           

 percentage reporting decrease.                                         

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.         

*Price trends reflect respondents' beliefs/expectations for             

 price changes on an annualized basis                                   

--MNI Washington Bureau; +1 202-371-2121; email: shikha.dave@marketnews.com

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