South By North Strategies, Ltd.

From the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s latest survey of manufacturing activity in the South Atlantic (District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia):

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region stalled in July after firming somewhat in June, according to the Richmond Fed’s latest survey. The index of overall activity was pushed lower as growth in new orders and shipments edged into negative territory. Employment, however, continued to grow but at a pace below June’s rate. Other indicators also suggested softer activity. District contacts reported that backlogs and capacity utilization fell further, but noted that delivery times and raw material goods inventories grew at a somewhat quicker pace.
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Looking forward, manufacturers were generally sanguine in July, though their optimism was somewhat less rosy than last month. Survey contacts at an increasing number of firms anticipated that their shipments, new orders, and capital expenditures would grow more slowly in coming months. In contrast, they expected backlogs of orders to grow more quickly.