Tracking Midwest manufacturing activity

Midwest manufacturing activity was boosted in April by a snapback in auto assemblies, following the 17-day GM strike. Light-vehicle production jumped from 9.7 million units in March to 11.9 million units in April. With roughly half of GM's production in Michigan and Wisconsin, the region received a disproportionate impact from the strike. The Midwest Manufacturing Index's drop in March was over twice that of the industrial production index for the nation.

Stronger manufacturing activity led to a sharp increase in the production component of the national purchasing managers' index in April, which returned to a level above 50 for the first time since mid-1995. Purchasing managers' surveys around the Midwest were much higher than the nation on average in April, but showed a similar pattern of improvement from March; even the Chicago purchasing managers' survey returned to a level above 50 for the first time in three months.

Sources: The Midwest Manufacturing Index (MMI) is a composite index of 15 industries, based on monthly hours worked and kilowatt hours. IP represents the Federal Reserve Board industrial production index for the U.S. manufacturing sector. Autos and light trucks are measured in annualized units, using seasonal adjustments developed by the Board. The purchasing managers' survey data for the Midwest are weighted averages of the seasonally adjusted production components from the Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee Purchasing Managers' Association surveys, with assistance from Bishop Associates, Comerica, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Copyright Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Jun 1996
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved