Jul 19, 2019

Manufacturing is rebounding from its June swoon

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Data: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; Chart: Axios Visuals

The Fed's regional manufacturing indexes are bouncing back in July after an awful June swoon, none more so than the Philadelphia region, which rose to 21.8 from a 0.3 reading in June.

Why it matters: It was the highest result in a year for the survey.

Details: Many of June's regional Fed surveys were conducted during the week President Trump threatened to impose tariffs on imports from Mexico in addition to tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.

"A July rebound, therefore, was always likely but this is a gratifyingly big increase," Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a note to clients.
The strong rebound in the Philly Fed number, following a modest gain from the New York regional Fed, doesn't promise a pickup in overall U.S. manufacturing, "but it does make it much more likely," Shepherdson added.

Go deeper: Manufacturing numbers keep getting worse

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