Richmond Fed Manufacturing index for May -9 versus -9 expected

• Prior month -13
• Richmond Fed composite index for May -9 versus -13 last month
• Services index -11 versus -7 last month.

• Composite Manufacturing Index: Rose to -9 from -13 in April, signaling a modest improvement in manufacturing activity, though still in contraction (below zero).

Details from the Richmond Fed.

Component Indexes:

• Shipments: Improved to -10 from -17 in April, reflecting a less severe decline in goods shipped.

• New Orders: Rose to -14 from -15 last month, indicating a slight uptick in demand but continued weakness.

Employment: Edged up to -2 from -5, suggesting a stabilization in labor market conditions, though still slightly negative.

Other Key Metrics (based on typical survey structure from the Richmond Fed):

• Backlogs -19 versus -24 last month,

• Inventories 18 versus 23 last month,

• Vendor Lead Times 15 versus one last month:Capacity Utilization: Expected to have improved marginally, tracking with shipments and new orders.

• Wages 23 versus 24 last month

• Prices paid 5.35 versus 5.37 last month.

• Prices received 2.73 versus 2.65 last month

Service Sector Context: The survey also noted a decline in the services revenues index to -11 from -7, indicating weaker performance in the service sector, which contrasts with manufacturing’s slight improvement.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.