Manufacturing Up Sharply in Philadelphia Region

Philadelphia, PA, Dec. 20, 2012 — The Philadelphia Fed index, a measure of manufacturing activity, improved to a reading of positive 8.1 in December from -10.7 in November.

That was well above the negative 4.0 reading expected by economists and was the best reading since April.

The new-orders index increased 15 points and the current shipments index jumped 25 points.