Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity: November 2011

Today, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond released their Survey of Manufacturing Activity for November showing that the composite index, the broadest measure of manufacturing activity, improved 6 points to a weak level of 0.

The most notable component measures also showed similar results with the new orders improving to -2, shipments increasing to 1 and backlog of orders climbing to a weak -10.

The following chart plots the composite index with the red line marking a level of 0, or the threshold between increasing and declining activity.