January Philly Fed: Positive Eight Months in a Row

With a January reading of 9.4, the index beat the Bloomberg and Dow Jones consensus estimates of 8.7. December’s survey was also revised down to 6.4 from a prior figure of 7.0 for the month. The broadest indicators for general activity, new orders, shipments and employment were positive, which were represented as a continued moderate growth.

Future activity indicators also moderated but continue to suggest general optimism about growth over the next six months. Some of the key summaries are as follows:

• The current shipments and new orders indexes remained positive but moved in opposite directions compared with December.
• The demand for manufactured goods, as measured by the current new orders index, decreased from a revised reading of 12.9 to 5.1 this month.
• Shipments continued to expand, and its index edged slightly higher to a reading of 12.1.
• Labor market indicators showed some improvement this month. Some 23% of the firms reported increases in employment in January, which is slightly higher than the 18% that reported increased employment last month.
• The prices paid index increased two points to 18.7, but price increases were less widespread.

A table has been provided below.