Philadelphia Fed Survey

The Philadelphia Fed Index is also known as the Business Outlook Survey. This is a survey produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia which questions manufacturers on general business conditions. The index covers the Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Delaware areas.

The theory is that higher survey figures lead to higher production which in turn contributes to economic growth.

Results of the survey are calculated as the difference between percentage scores with zero acting as the base. Values greater than zero indicate growth, while values less than zero indicate contraction.

The survey asks questions to voluntary participants about unemployment, new orders, shipments, inventories, and cost of purchases.

This is a monthly report released on the third Thursday of each month. The General Business Conditions Index produced by this survey is a diffusion index.