Philly Fed index drops to 1.3 in April from 2.0

Philly Fed index drops to 1.3 in April from 2.0 

Business among manufacturers in the Philadelphia region softened slightly in April, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said Thursday. The bank's business-conditions index edged down to 1.3 from 2.0 in March, though any reading above zero indicates that manufacturers are still expanding. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected the index to rise to 4.0. The Fed reported that the index for new orders fell to negative 1.0 in April from 0.5 in March. Yet the index for hiring plans increased to 2.7 from 0.9 in March.