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Philadelphia Fed November Outlook declined again
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Conditions in the region's manufacturing sector continued to deteriorate, according to firms polled for this month's Business Outlook Survey. Most broad indicators declined again in November, following sharp decreases in October. Input price pressures, which had been moderating over recent months, showed a marked decrease in November. Also, for the first time since 2003, more firms reported declines in the prices of their own manufactured goods than reported increases. Most of the survey's indicators of future activity slid further into negative territory this month, suggesting that the region's manufacturing executives expect continued declines over the next six months.
Current Indicators Show Declines
The survey's broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, decreased from -37.5 in October to -39.3 this month. This index, which fell a dramatic 41 points last month, is now at its lowest level since October 1990. Evidence of weakness was also seen in the other broad indicators this month. Demand for manufactured goods, as represented by the survey's new orders index, decreased one point, to a reading of -31.4. The survey's shipments index held steady at -18.8; this follows a decrease of 21 points last month. Indexes for unfilled orders and delivery times remained significantly negative and were little changed from October.
Posted: November 20, 2008 Thursday 10:04 AM