After crashing from November to January (oh that's just weather), the Philly Fed factory index has failed to do anything but limp higher in the last 3 months. Printing at 7.5 in April (slightly better than the expected 6.0, Philly Fed continues to hover around 1 year lows. The post-weather rebound is entirely missing as New Orders plunged to 2 year lows (though employment surged) with more firms reporting price decreases than reporting price increases.
No post-weather bounce... (perhaps it was not the weather after all)
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With the lowest New Orders in 2 years...
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And Prices Paid is signaling a looming recession...
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And the breakdown shows...
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As the report notes:
The Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey suggests continued modest expansion of the region’s manufacturing sector in April. The indicators for general activity and new orders both suggest expansion, but at a very modest pace. Firms, however, reported an increase in employment this month. Some respondents continued to report downward price pressures for inputs. For their own manufactured products, more firms reported price decreases than reported price increases, although 80 percent of the firms reported steady prices. Indicators reflecting firms’ expectations for the next six months improved modestly this month, and the firms were notably more optimistic in their forecast for future employment growth.
Charts: Bloomberg
