(RTTNews) - Activity in the mid-Atlantic region’s manufacturing sector is picking up in November, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday, with the index of activity in the sector increasing by much more than expected.

The Philly Fed said its index of regional manufacturing activity rose to 16.7 in November from 11.5 in October, with a positive reading indicating growth in the manufacturing sector. Economists had been expecting a much more modest increase by the index to 12.2.

With the bigger than expected increase, the index remained positive for the fourth consecutive month, rising to its highest level since June of 2007.

A jump in the pace of growth in new orders and shipments contributed to the bigger than expected increase by the index, with the new orders index rising to 14.8 in November from 6.2 in October and the shipments index surging up to 15.7 from 3.3 in the previous month.

The Philly Fed also noted that labor market conditions have been stabilizing in recent months, with the number of employees index rising to a negative 0.5 in November from a negative 6.8 in October. The index is at its least negative level since May of 2008.

On the inflation front, the report showed that the prices paid index fell to 14.9 in November from 21.3 in October, while the prices received index rose to a negative 1.5 from a negative 4.3.

Looking ahead, the Philly Fed said that manufacturers are generally optimistic. While the future general activity index edged down to 36.8 in November from 39.8 in October, it remained positive for the eleventh consecutive month.

Commenting on the data, Peter Boockvar, equity strategist for Miller Tabak, said, “Net-net, this data confirms that manufacturing is slowly improving with slack end demand keeping the sustainability in question.”

In other economic news, the Labor Department released its report on first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended November 14th, showing that initial jobless claims came in unchanged.

The report showed that jobless claims for the week came in at 505,000, unchanged from the previous week’s revised figure. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to edge up to 504,000 from the 502,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board released a separate report showing a continued increase in its leading economic indicators index in the month of October, although the increase by the index was slightly smaller than economists had been anticipating.

The leading indicators index rose 0.3 percent in October following a 1.0 percent gain in September and a 0.4 percent increase in August. While the index rose for the seventh consecutive month, economists had been expecting a 0.4 percent increase.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2009 RTTNews.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Posted in Categories: Economy, Forex, Releases, USA.

Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email