Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook: weak + interesting special question
Posted on December 17th, 2015
Weak headline Philly Fed, below expectations of a roughly flat 1.0 reading.
The "modified" Philly Fed (using weights / components similar to ISM) shows a small up-tick, but it also depicts a very weak manufacturing.
Philly Fed Diffusion Index | Philly Fed Modified (according to ISM weights) |
The special question focused on business costs. As expected, input costs other than labor costs are not a reason for concern. However, a significant share of business expect wage and health costs to increase. This is negative for profits.