The region's services sector “continued to grow,” as the general business conditions index slid to 30.1 in March from 31.0 in February, this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia non-manufacturing Report on Business, released Tuesday, indicates.
At the company level, the general business activity index fell to 27.6 from 32.1.
The prices paid index was 36.7, its highest reading since September 2013, up from 23.7 last month, while prices received gained to 18.9 from 12.5. “This index has been above its historical average of 11.7 for three consecutive months,” according to the survey.
“Nearly 37% of the firms reported paying higher prices, while none reported paying lower prices,” according to the survey.
New orders index soared to 31.9 from 16.7, sales or revenues declined to 24.0 from 29.3, the unfilled orders index dropped to 9.5 from 16.2, the inventories index slipped to 2.3 from 8.0, the number of full time employees index grew to 22.6 from 18.0, and the average employee workweek rose to 29.9 from 12.6.
The six months from now regional general business conditions index rose to 49.7 from 48.7, while the company general business conditions index decreased to 54.1 from 58.5.
