The numbers: The Philadelphia Fed said Thursday its gauge of regional business activity inched up to negative 10.6 in January from negative 12.8 in the prior month. Any reading below zero indicates deteriorating conditions. This is the fifth straight month in negative territory and the 18th in the past 20 months.
Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal expected a negative 8 reading in January.
Key details: The barometer on new orders and shipments picked up in January but remained in negative territory.
Both price indexes dropped below their long-run averages in January.
The measure on six-month business outlook fell to negative 4 this month, the lowest reading since May.
Big picture: The Philadelphia Fed index is one of the first regional manufacturing gauges that offer timely reads of the manufacturing sector.
The data was not as weak as the Empire State Index, a similar measure of factory activity in New York State, which plunged from negative 14.5 to negative 43.7 in January. That’s the lowest level since May 2020.
The national ISM factory index has been in contractionary territory for 14 straight months.
Market reaction: Stocks DJIA SPX were set to open mixed on Thursday while the 10-year Treasury yield BX:TMUBMUSD10Y rose to 4.13% in early morning trading.
