NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Factory activity in the Federal Reserve Bank district of Philadelphia contracted again in October, the bank said in a report on Thursday.
The bank’s index for general activity came in at -8.7 last month, a slight improvement from September’s -9.9. Economists expected a better performance, however, at an expected reading of -5.
The bank said the negative reading was the fourth such performance in the past five months and noted that “nearly 24% of businesses reported a decline in general activity this month, while 15% reported increases,” while a small majority of businesses remained flat last month. .
The report found that local factory operators are reporting rising employment and inflationary pressures, and are also seeing a drop in activity over the next half year.
The Philadelphia Fed said more survey respondents expect to increase capital spending over the next six months rather than cut it, but noted that “the share of businesses planning to cut spending exceeded the share of companies planning to increase spending in four of the six categories. .”
Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
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