US factory activity slows in April, Philly Fed says

Factory activity in the US mid-Atlantic region slowed in April amid faster price gains, the results of a closely-followed survey showed.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's regional manufacturing gauge fell from a reading of 27.4 for March to 17.6 in April.

That was modestly below the 21.4 print that economists had been anticipating.

The key sub-index linked to firms' new orders came in at 17.8, down from 25.8, but that linked to the prices paid by companies increased from 81.0 to 84.6.

Meanwhile, a subindex for staffing levels edged up from 38.9 to 41.4, while that for the average employee workweek drifted lower from 21.4 to 20.8.