Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey in United States

A monthly survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City of manufacturing firms in the Tenth District (Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming and parts of Missouri and New Mexico). Its composite activity index measures, through a diffusion index, the change in factory activity from the previous month.

A seasonally adjusted diffusion index, calculated as the percentage of firms reporting an increase minus the percentage reporting a decrease. A positive reading indicates expanding activity and a negative one, contraction.

A leading regional gauge of US manufacturing activity, complementing the New York (Empire State), Philadelphia and Richmond Fed surveys. It helps anticipate the national ISM manufacturing index; upside surprises can firm up rate expectations and support the dollar.

It covers only the Tenth District (the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains region), which is not very representative of the country as a whole, and rests on a small sample of firms, making it volatile. It is a qualitative opinion survey rather than a direct measure of output.