MW: Philly Fed manufacturing index slumps in April
By Steve Goldstein
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Philadelphia Fed's index of current activity slumped to 18.5 in April after the March reading of 43.4, which was the highest since Jan. 1984. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected the gauge to fall to 35.5. Nearly all of the survey's broadest indicators remained positive but fell from their readings in the previous month, the Philly Fed said. The Philadelphia Fed index, which has been conducted each month since May 1968, is a diffusion index, which means it's calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents indicating a decrease from the percentage indicating an increase.
