Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (07/16/15)
Manufacturing activity in the Mid-Atlantic region increased modestly in July, according to firms responding to this month’s Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. However, the survey’s broadcast measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, decreased from 15.2 in June to 5.7 in July. Firms’ responses suggest steady employment in July, as the percentage of firms reporting an increase in employees in July was equal to the percentage reporting a decrease (12%). The current employment index did however fall for the third consecutive month, dropping 4.2 points to -0.4. Firms reported a modest overall increase in the workweek index, with a positive but little changed 4.0.