Manufacturers report activity “improved” in March as the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business general business conditions index rebounded to positive 13.7 from negative 4.1 in February.
Economists surveyed by IFR Markets predicted a reading of 5.0 for the index.
The prices paid index was 19.7, down from 21.8 last month, new orders index reversed to positive 1.9 from negative 2.4, shipments soared to positive 20.0 from negative 5.3, the unfilled orders index fell to 3.1 from 6.9, the delivery times index slipped to 8.8 from 13.6, inventories rose to 17.2 from 3.3, prices received fell to 24.7 from 27.7, the number of employees index decreased to 9.6 from 14.5, and the average employee workweek grew to 10.6 from 4.7.
The six months from now general business conditions index declined to 21.8 from 31.3 in last month’s survey, the prices paid index was at 47.3, up from 39.8 in the prior survey, and the prices received index climbed to 32.4 from 29.7. The capital expenditures index dropped to 19.57 from 31.7 last month. The number of employees index rose to 24.9 from 23.6, while the average workweek index gained to 9.2 from 6.9. The new orders index fell to 19.8 from 29.4, shipments fell to 20.5 from 39.8; and the unfilled orders index grew to 13.1 from 11.7. The delivery times index widened to negative 7.5 from negative 3.6, and inventories dropped to negative 9.8 from positive 4.2.
