HOUSTON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The April Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey indicated the business activity in some eastern U.S. states continued to grow, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported on Friday.
Responses to the survey, conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia which is responsible for the Third District covering eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware, suggested that the region's nonmanufacturing sector continued to expand in April.
The indicators for firm-level general activity and sales/revenues remained positive. The diffusion index for current general activity edged 1 point higher than last month, but the indicator for new orders fell 17 points.
The survey's indexes for future activity suggested that nearly 50 percent of firms expected increase in activity over the next six months, while 9 percent expect declines.
The firms continued to report overall increases in employment. Over 31 percent of the responding firms reported increases in employment, while 4 percent reported decreases this month.
The respondents continued to report overall increases in prices for inputs and for their own goods and services. Price increases for purchased inputs were reported by 59 percent of the manufacturers this month, up notably from 44 percent in March.
The indexes for capital spending showed further improvement in April. Nearly 53 percent of the firms indicated that total capital spending would increase this year compared with 2017, while 19 percent indicated that spending would decrease.
The Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey is a monthly survey of nonmanufacturers in the Third Federal Reserve District. Participants indicate the direction of change in overall business activity.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is one of the 12 regional Reserve Banks that, together with the Board of Governors in Washington D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System.
