The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia announces results from the March Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey. The survey suggests manufacturing activity continued to expand. Delivery times and unfilled order indexes were positive. This suggests longer delivery times and an increase in unfilled orders.
- Diffusion index 32.8 for March down from 43.3 in February
- 44% of firms reported increases in manufacturing activity
- 11% of firms reported decreases in manufacturing activity
- 25% of firms reported increase in employment
- 8% of firms reported decrease in employment
- 60% of firms reported a labor shortage
- 68% of firms reported skills mismatch between available workers and requirements
- 47% of firms report positions open for more than 90 days
FRB Philadelphia suggests growth for the manufacturing sector on the region. Broad indicators read positive with most up from February.