(Finance) – Activity in the manufacturing sector worsens in the Philadelphia area (United States). In May, the Philadelphia Fed district’s manufacturing activity index rose to +4.5 points from +15.5 in April. The figure is worse than analysts’ expectations, which indicated a level of 7.7 points.
It must be said that an index above zero indicates that within the Philadelphia district there are more optimistic than pessimistic companies in the manufacturing sector, vice versa an index below zero indicates the prevalence of the number of pessimistic companies.
Among the components of the index, that of new orders stood at -7.9 points from +12.2 points, that of business conditions fell to +32.4 points from +34.3 and that of spending on investments (capex) rose to 20.10 from 20, while the employment index stood at -7.9 from -10.7 points and the price index at 18.7 from 23 points.