Investing.com - Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia-region expanded at a faster rate than expected in January, fuelling optimism over the U.S. economic outlook, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index improved to 9.4 this month from December’s reading of 6.4. Analysts had expected the index to rise to a reading of 8.6 in January.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates improving conditions, below indicates worsening conditions.
The current shipments and new orders indexes remained positive but moved in opposite directions compared with December. The demand for manufactured goods, as measured by the current new orders index, decreased from a revised reading of 12.9 to 5.1 this month.
Labor market indicators showed some improvement this month. The current employment index increased 6 points from its revised reading in December.
The survey’s future indicators have recently shown moderating optimism about growth in manufacturing. This month, the future general activity index fell 10 points, from a revised reading of 44.8 in December to 34.4 this month.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.18% to trade at 1.3629.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were down after the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, the S&P 500 shed 0.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 declined 0.1%.