Richmond Fed manufacturing activity
- Prior month -15
- Manufacturing index -7 versus -15 last month
- Fifth District manufacturing activity was relatively flat in June, with the composite manufacturing index improving from -15 in May to -7 in June.
- Two of its three component indexes — shipments and new orders — also improved but remained negative. Shipments index rose from -13 in May to -5 in June, while the new orders index rose from -29 to -15.
- The employment index slightly decreased from 5 in May to 2 in June.
- Firms were less pessimistic about local business conditions as the index rose to -8 in June from -16 in May.
- The index for future local business conditions also improved, increasing to 3 from -16.
- Many firms continued to report reductions in orders backlogs and vendor lead time, as these indexes remained negative.
- All three spending indexes increased.
- The average growth rate of prices paid decreased somewhat in June, while the average growth rate of prices received decreased notably.
- Firms expect both growth rates to moderate over the next 12 months.
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The table of major components shows:
- manufacturing index -7 versus -15 last month
- Shipments -5 versus -13 last month
- New orders -15 versus -29 last month
- Backlog of orders -25 versus -32 last month
- Employment 2 versus 5 last month
- Wages 17 versus 17 last month
- Prices paid 4.19 versus 4.95 last month
- Prices received 3.84 versus 5.3 my last month
- Capacity utilization -2 versus -15 last month
- Vendor lead time -17 versus -15 last month
- Local business conditions minus say versus -27 last month
- Capital expenditures 6 versus -12 last month
- Finished goods inventory 21 versus 11 last month
- Raw material inventory stat 20 versus 18 last month
- Equipment and software spending a versus one last month
- Services expenditure -3 versus -5 last month
6 month forward expectations showed:
- Shipments 20 versus 10 last month
- New orders 15 versus 1 last month
- Backlog of orders minus a versus -15 last month
- Number of employees 9 versus 13 last month
- Wages 42 versus 45 last month
- Prices paid 2.65 versus 3.43 last month
- Prices received 1.63 versus 1.58 last month
What sticks out is the prices components both fell. Capital expenditures increase which may be in dictation of increased costs due to AI initiatives. Employment remain positive but did dip in both the current and six-month expectations.
