Philly Fed index slumps in December, but supply pressures ease
Manufacturing activity in the US mid-Atlantic region slowed sharply at the end of 2021, even as supply chain pressures eased.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's factory sector index slumped from a reading of 39.0 for November to 15.4 in December.
Economists had forecast a drop to 27.0.
A gauge tracking new orders was especially weak, retreating from 47.4 to 13.7.
On a more positive note, the sub-index linked to delivery times slipped from 35.7 to 31.4, while that for prices paid by firms fell from 80.0 to 66.1 and another sub-index for unfilled orders dropped from 27.4 to 11.4.
Commenting on the survey results, Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "the index has see-sawed in recent months, and the strength of the Empire State survey, released earlier this week, suggests it would be unwise to assume this decline marks the start of a softer trend.
"The unambiguous good news in the report is the clear declines in all three measures of supply chain pressures - order backlogs, supplier delivery times, and prices paid."