Manufacturing weakens further in Midwest, including Missouri and Kansas

Manufacturing activity continued to decline in the Midwest last month, including in Missouri and Kansas, according to surveys of companies’ purchasing managers.

Creighton University surveys the purchasing managers each month and creates an index based on their responses. The index covering nine states fell to 43.8, well below 50 and indicating contraction in manufacturing activity.

This is the fourth month in a row the nine-state index has remained below a growth-neutral reading of 50.

Economist Ernie Goss at Creighton attributed the weakness to declines in energy and agriculture, each of which accounts for a large amount of manufacturing activity in the nine-state region that stretches from Arkansas to North Dakota.

In September, the index had been at 45.5. A separate index for Missouri fell to 41.6 from 47.3 in September. Kansas’ index dipped to 43.7 from 43.9.

“Fabricated metal producers and machinery manufacturers in the state (of Missouri) continue to experience pullbacks in economic activity, especially for those firms linked to international markets and agriculture,” the university’s Mid-America Business Conditions report said. It said that in Kansas “durable goods producers, including machinery manufacturers, experienced downturns in economic activity.”

The Creighton report uses the same methods as the nationally followed purchasing managers index generated by the Institute for Supply Management.

The national index gained slightly in October, reaching 51.9 from 51.5 in September. Its reading above 50 indicates manufacturing activity continues to expand nationwide.

This story was originally published November 1, 2016 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Manufacturing weakens further in Midwest, including Missouri and Kansas."