Philly Fed Disappoints as Indicators Point to Economic Rut

[Purveyor]

Source: REUTERS

Factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly slowed in April while a gauge of future U.S. economic activity fell last month, two separate releases showed on Thursday.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its business activity index fell to 1.3 from 2.0 the month before. That was shy of economists' expectations for 3.0, according to a Reuters poll.

Any reading above zero indicates expansion in the region's manufacturing. The survey covers factories in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

It is seen as one of the first monthly indicators of the health of U.S. manufacturing leading up to the national report by the Institute for Supply Management.

Leading Indicators Fall

Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100652493

[villager]

1. the economy wont't actually "get better" until it's wrested from the hands of the 1%

n/t

[DallasNE]

2. Right On Schedule

The sequester started March 1st and the consequences have a short lag time. Why any economist would have expected a reading of 3.0 is mind boggling and shows that they need to get out of their ivory towers.

[cstanleytech]

3. The sequester isnt the problem the problem really is that many companies have been

keeping the average workers wages stagnant plus they arent hiring full time much and when they are hiring they are mainly hiring part time and paying minimum wage like walmart which in the end doesnt do anything to help the economy or cease the downward spiral of more and more people having less and less money to spend.