The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index rose to 8.3 in August (previous: 5.7), a solid move up from last month's reading, against consensus expectations for a moderate rebound to 6.5. New orders fell to 5.8 from 7.1, remaining at levels consistent with a modest expansion. Shipments increased to 16.7, a high for the year, from the soft reading of 4.4 in July. The employment index rebounded to 5.3 (previous: -0.4), returning to positive territory.
Price pressures softened in August, with prices paid falling to a still-tight 6.2 (previous: 20.2). The ISM-adjusted version of the index, which averages five of the component indices instead of measuring general business conditions from the separate survey question that informs the headline index, rose to 52.6 from 49.2.
"We view the rebound in the survey as suggestive of a modest expansion in regional manufacturing activity in Q3", says Barclays.
