NEW YORK – “The region's manufacturing sector is showing signs of growth,” as the general business conditions index increased to 14.1 in September from 4.2 in August, this month’s Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.
Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a reading of 8.0 for the index.
“Indexes for general activity, new orders, and shipments all registered positive readings for the second consecutive month. Indexes for employment, work hours, and the prices received for manufactured goods remained negative, suggesting continued weakness. The survey's broad indicators of future activity continued to suggest that the region's manufacturing executives expect business activity to increase over the next six months,” according to the survey.
The prices paid index was 14.9, compared to 10.0 in August, new orders index slid to 3.3 from 4.2, shipments climbed to 8.2 from 0.6, the unfilled orders index gained to negative 7.4 from negative 9.3, the delivery times index widened to negative 8.9 from negative 7.0, inventories reversed to negative 18.1 from positive 0.3, prices received declined to negative 10.6 from negative 1.5, the number of employees index dropped to negative 14.3 from negative 12.9, and average employee workweek jumped to negative 3.9 from negative 6.3.
The six months from now general business conditions index slipped to 47.8 from 56.8 in last month’s survey, prices paid was at 40.7, up from 23.9 in the prior survey, and the prices received index was at 9.7, down from 13.6. The capital expenditures index rose to 0.8 from zero last month. The number of employees index jumped to 20.5 from 12.9, while the average workweek index grew to 28.2 from 24.0. The new orders index gained to 50.2 from 46.5; shipments increased to 54.9 from 47.3; and the unfilled orders index rose to 24.5 from 15.6. The delivery times index climbed to 9.4 from 7.2, and inventories reversed to negative 1.2 from positive 4.3.
