US April Philly Fed Manufacturing Index Falls To -24.9, Lowest In 7 Yrs

[Purveyor]

Source: Thomson Financial News

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - Business activity in the mid-Atlantic unexpectedly fell in April to its lowest level in seven years and the fifth straight month in in negative territory, according to a key survey put out by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

The Philly Fed's manufacturing index of current business activity fell to -24.9 in April from -17.4 the prior month. That's the lowest level since February 2001 and sharply lower than the -15.0 expected by economists polled by Thomson's IFR Markets.

A negative number means more companies see the outlook declining than those that see it improving.
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The employment index plunged to negative 11.1 from negative 4.7 in the prior month, the lowest reading since May 2003.



Read more: http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/04/17/afx4902549.html

[brentspeak]

1. Gee, and we were told that the shrinking dollar would get our factories up and roaring again

The Milton Friedman/neoliberal economists are proven wrong, yet again (for like the 1000th time).

[4dsc]

2. But all the talking heads on CNBC say we are headed for good times..

Its rather amazing to see how many talking heads are actually advocating that the economy is now headed out of this short lived recession or slowdown(whatever fits). They are all looking at signs that state the bad times are over. One person indicated that he see a 2-5 YEAR UPSWING in techs stocks..

[CatholicEdHead]

3. Does that mean an increase in outsourcing IT?