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Philly Fed November factory activity hits new 18-year low

NEW YORK
Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:26am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region fell to another 18-year low in November, a survey showed on Thursday.

Economy

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its business activity index fell to minus 39.3 from minus 37.5 in October. Any reading below zero indicates contraction in the region's manufacturing sector.

Wall Street economists had expected a reading of minus 35.0, according to a Reuters poll. Their 62 forecasts ranged from minus 45.0 to minus 24.8.

The survey of factories in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware is scrutinized as one of the first monthly indicators of the health of U.S. manufacturing.

A similar gauge for New York state tumbled in November to yet another record low in its seven-year history, the New York Federal Reserve said on Monday.

(Reporting by Burton Frierson; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Economy


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