NEW YORK – The region's manufacturing sector expanded, although the general business conditions index decreased to 15.2 in January from a revised 22.5 in December, this month’s Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.
Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a reading of 18.0 for the index.
“Indexes for general activity, new orders, and shipments all remained positive this month, although each fell back somewhat from their revised readings in December. Also indicative of improvement, for the second consecutive month, the percentage of firms reporting increases in employment was higher than the percentage reporting declines. Overall, expectations improved in January, and firms remain generally optimistic about growth over the next six months,” according to the survey.
The prices paid index was 33.2, compared to 36.6 in December, new orders index fell to 3.2 from 8.3, shipments dipped to 11.0 from 14.9, the unfilled orders index gained to 3.6 from 1.7, the delivery times index gained to 6.6 from 4.1, inventories climbed to negative 1.6 from negative 5.7, prices received increased to 2.7 from 1.4, the number of employees index increased to 6.1 from 4.5, and average employee workweek slipped to 4.2 from 6.3.
The six months from now general business conditions index rose to 43.3 from 35.9 in last month’s survey, the prices paid index was at 47.0, up from 34.4 in the prior survey, and the prices received index was at 15.4, down from 19.1. The capital expenditures index soared to 16.8 from 13.2 last month. The number of employees index fell to 14.4 from 15.1, while the average workweek index dipped to 22.4 from 22.5. The new orders index surged to 44.6 from 32.8; shipments rose to 39.8 from 33.7; and the unfilled orders index nearly doubled to 17.4 from 9.8. The delivery times index reversed to positive 9.4 from negative 3.2, and inventories rose to positive 10.2 from negative 0.5.
