In the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing business outlook survey, the diffusion index for current general activity jumped sharply to 21.8 in July, up from 0.3 and beat expectation of 5.0. Current shipment index rose 8 points while new orders index rose 11 pts.
Overall, the responses to the survey suggest “an improvement in regional manufacturing conditions compared with last month. The new orders index, which reflects demand for manufactured goods, showed improvement this month, and more firms added to their payrolls. The survey’s future indexes indicate that respondents continue to expect growth over the next six months.”
