Expansion in Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity slows in August

The Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday, revealed the expansion in the region's manufacturing activity slowed in August.

According to the survey, the diffusion index for current general activity fell from 16.8 in July to 21.8 this month.

Economists had forecast the index to decrease to 10.0 last month.

A reading above 0 signals expansion, while a reading below 0 indicates contraction.

The August decline in the headline index was due to decreases in the employment index (-26.4 points to 3.6 in August, its lowest reading since November 2016), the shipments index (-5.9 points to 19) and delivery times index (-5.7 points to 9.3). Meanwhile, the new orders (+6.9 points to 25.8), the unfilled orders (+5.4 points to 9.1) and the inventories (+0.6 points to 8.7) indexes posted gains.

On the price front, the prices paid index rose this month, while prices received index fell.