The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index (CFMMI), a monthly estimate of manufacturing output in the US Midwest region by major industry, increased by 1.2 percent in November, to a seasonally adjusted level of 84.2 (2002+100), the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported this week.
The 1.2 percent increase in Midwest manufacturing output in November from October reflects production in the five-state area of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. For comparison, the Federal Reserve Board's industrial production index for manufacturing (IPMFG) was up 1.1 percent in November from October.
Although the CFMMI was down 10.0 percent in November from a year earlier (compared to a 4.4 percent year-over-year dip at a national level), all four regional industry sectors measured by the CFMMI increased in November from October: steel sector output rose 2.5 percent; auto sector production increased 1.1 percent; resource sector output grew 0.9 percent; and machinery sector output moved up 0.7 percent.
Regarding Midwest steel activity in particular, the region's steel sector increase of 2.5 percent in November follows a 0.1 percent up-tick in October. Comparatively, the nation's steel sector output was up 1.1 percent in November. Midwest steel output dropped 21.1 percent from its November 2008 level, and national steel output fell 14.3 percent.