US Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index rises to 12 in August vs. -10 expected

• Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index rose into positive territory for the first time since August 2022.
• US Dollar Index stays in the red despite the upbeat data.

The diffusion index for current general activity of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Manufacturing Survey improved sharply to 12 in August from -13.5 in July. This reading marked the first positive reading in a year and came in much better than the market expectation of -10.

"The index for new orders — which had been negative for 14 consecutive months — climbed 32 points to 16.0, and the shipments index rose 18 points to 5.7," the Philadelphia Fed noted in its press release. "On balance, the firms reported a decline in employment, and the employment index moved down 5 points to -6.0."

Market reaction

The US Dollar struggles to find demand despite the upbeat data. As of writing, the US Dollar Index was down 0.25% on the day at 103.20.