Surveys gauging growth or contraction in Midwest manufacturing. (REUTERS)
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve said its Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey fell from 15.2 to 5.7 in July, with employment contracting to -0.4. This month’s reading, which covers factories in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, fell below the analyst expectation of 12.0 according to a Reuters poll.
Any reading above zero indicates expansion in the region’s manufacturing. The survey covers factories in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.
The gauge is seen as one of the first monthly indicators of the strength or weakness of the U.S. manufacturing sector ahead of the national report by the Institute for Supply Management. The reading on new orders slipped to 7.1 in July from the June reading of 15.2, while the prices paid subindex rose to 20.2 from 17.2 in June.
The six-month capex outlook slipped to 7.7 from 8.1 the previous month.
