August Philadelphia Fed index shows slower growth, rising costs

Manufacturers report expanding at a slower rate in August, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business respondents reported “price increases for purchased inputs and their own manufactured products, but these price indexes moderated slightly this month.”

The general business conditions index decreased to 11.9 from 25.7.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business

Economists surveyed by IFR Markets predicted a reading of 22.3 for the index.

The prices paid index was 55.0, down from 62.9 last month, new orders index slumped to 9.9 from 31.4, shipments slid to 16.6 from 24.7, the unfilled orders index fell to 5.6 from 11.0, the delivery times index dropped to 6.4 from 11.0, inventories grew to 15.4 from 14.4, prices received slipped to 33.2 from 36.3, the number of employees index fell to 14.3 from 16.8, and the average employee workweek dropped to 10.7 from 13.7.

The six months from now general business conditions index grew to 38.8 from 29.0 in last month’s survey, the prices paid index was at 60.2, up from 59.7 in the prior survey, and the prices received index gained to 58.9 from 50.6. The capital expenditures index fell to 27.1 from 31.4 last month. The number of employees index rose to 32.1 from 27.5, while the average workweek index decreased to 15.2 from 17.7. The new orders index increased to 38.1 from 28.3, shipments crept to 42.1 from 37.2; and the unfilled orders index jumped to 12.3 from 3.3. The delivery times index reversed to positive 2.5 from negative 1.6, and inventories declined to 2.2 from 9.0.

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Economic indicators Manufacturing industry Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
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