US Data: Richmond Fed Survey - Summary

Release for: December 2018

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Diffusion indexes, seasonally adjusted

                                          Dec-18  Nov-18  Oct-18

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MANUFACTURING SECTOR INDICATORS:

Now vs. a month ago:

Manufacturing Index                           -8      14      15

Shipments                                    -25      12       7

Volume of new orders                          -9      17      20

Backlog of orders                            -18      15      13

Capacity utilization                         -16       9      20

Vendor lead time                              14      35      23

Local business conditions                    -25       5       8

Capital expenditures                          17      17      21

Finished Goods Inventories                    13       2       1

Raw Materials Inventories                     15       5      14

Equipment and Software                        13      19      16

Services Expenditures                          2       9      -1

Number of employees                           14      11      19

Wages                                         31      34      28

Available Skills                             -28     -26     -22

Average workweek                               3      11      16

Price trends:

Current

Prices paid                                 4.36    4.70    5.68

Prices received                             2.26    2.13    2.84

Six months from now

Prices Paid                                 2.90    3.92    3.87

Prices received                             2.31    2.60    2.66

     The manufacturing index is a guage 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; tel: +1 202-371-2121; email: kevin.kastner@marketnews.com

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