Details from the March 2017 US Philly Fed business outlook index report 16 March 2017
Prior 43.3
- Employment 17.5 vs 11.10 prior
- New orders 38.6 vs 38.0 prior
- Prices paid 40.7 vs 29.9 prior
- 6m expectations 59.5 vs 53.5 prior
- Capex 34.5 vs 22.1 prior
Better than expected but down on last month. Good strong reading for inflation and investment though.
Looking deeper, there's evidence of a skills shortage with 67.6% of respondents highlighting that over a general labour shortage. 91.2% of that shortage is seen in the use of production machines and tools. That's suggests that wages could rise as firms look to plug those gaps and also costs could increase if the only option is to train people up.
US Philly Fed
