Richmond Fed Manufacturing Activity Bounces Back

Fifth District manufacturing activity bounced back into expansion in August, according to the latest survey from the Richmond Fed, whose composite index jumped 13 points from July's minus 12 to 1. Beating consensus forecasts calling for a more modest recovery from July's contraction reading, which was the weakest in six and half years, the rebound was driven by a sharp increases in shipments (up 18 to 5) and new orders (up 20 to 2), two of the three components that had driven the previous month's decline. But the third component, employment, continued to weaken, extending July's foray into contraction by 3 points to minus 6.