Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (06/18/15)

Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region improved in June, increasing over the readings in May, according to firms responding to this month’s Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The diffusion index of current activity, the survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, was consistent with these position indicators, increasing from May’s 6.7 to 15.2 this month.

Firms’ responses suggest modest expansion in employment in June. The percentage of firms reporting an increase in employees in June (22%) exceeded the percentage reporting a decrease (18%). However, the current employment index fell almost three points, to 3.8. Firms did report a slight overall increase in the workweek—the workweek index increased from -5.6 to 4.7.