June US KC Fed manufacturing index -11 vs -1 prior

• Prior was -1
• Composite index -8 vs -2 prior

Selected Manufacturing Comments

“It is clear inflation has forced the customer
to make ‘either/or’ decisions on how they spend their money. We see
value added items in the food sector being affected strongly. Our
business is not bad per se, but not as robust as we would like to see.
This is both on the restaurant side as well as retail grocery.”

“Hiring qualified hourly employees continues to be a challenge.”

“Access
to unskilled labor is better than it has been since the start of the
pandemic. Still not great quality wise, but the number of people looking
for work is robust. Still challenges on hiring and retaining
office/administrative staff. Salary/wage expectations from candidates is
extremely high.”

“We believe that our customers are delaying orders to us due to the high cost of capital.”

“Saw a quick slowdown in activity in the last few weeks. Projects put on hold, delays in permitting, etc.”

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.