Philly Manufacturing Activity Improves
PHILADELPHIA (
) -- Manufacturing around the Pennsylvania region picked up this month, as employment conditions in the factory sector continued showing improvement.
An index tracking the manufacturing base in the area measured 18.9, according to data released Thursday morning by the
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
. The figure was decidedly higher than the February mark, when the index registered 17.6, and also above forecasts anticipating a jump to 18, according to
Briefing.com
.
Any figure above zero tends to denote growth in business activity and March marked the seventh straight month of expansion.
The index is stitched together based on a survey of manufacturers in the Philadelphia region. Respondents indicated that new orders and shipments fell back this month, but continued reflecting growth, while the survey's specific reads on employment hinted at some stabilization in the labor market. A sub-index examining the number of employees registered 8.4 this month, after reading 7.4 last month. Another read on the average employee workweek also improved to 7.6 after measuring 1.9 in February.
A separate government report released Thursday morning showed
inched lower, while the
Federal Open Market Committee
signaled earlier in the week that the labor market is stabilizing. Still, jobs growth remains an elusive goal. Congress sought to rectify that on Wednesday by passing a $18 billion jobs package. The bill now awaits the president's signature.
Looking ahead, the Philly Fed survey also suggested that manufacturing firms remain optimistic. The future general activity index rose to 52 in this month after registering a 35.8 last month.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
was higher by 30 points, or 0.3%, at 10,763. Manufacturers like
DuPont
(DD) - Get Report
,
Alcoa
(AA) - Get Report
,
Boeing
(BA) - Get Report
and
3M
(MMM) - Get Report
were leading the blue-chip average higher.
-- Written by Sung Moss in New York