(Fed Philadelphia) The current activity diffusion index for US manufacturing outlook was 19.4 in August, a decline of 3 points from June. The index marks a fourth consecutive month of decline from April highs.
Fig: Current and Future General Manufacturing Activity indexes
28% of firms had increases in current activity in August, while 9 reported declines
New orders index rose by 6 points to 22.8 in August. Current shipments index shed 6 points to 18.9, with almost 34% of firms posting shipment gains, more than 15% that reported declines.
Manufacturing employment rose, with the index up 3 points to 32.6. More than 39% reported surges in employment, against 7 that showed declines.
Manufacturing firms continued to post cost surges, with prices paid index increasing by 2 points to 71.2, after falling by 10 points in July from the 42-year high in June.
Firms now project their own price surges to match inflation rate, with the consumer price forecasts over the next year at 5.0%. Inflation over a 10-year average is expected at 3.0%, the same as May.
Firms are still upbeat about the six-month outlook, although the diffusion index for future general activity shed 15 points to 33.7 in August after another decline in July.
SPY is down -0.058% on premarket, DXY is up +0.45%.
