Mid-Atlantic Factory Activity Slows in May

Factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region expanded in May at a slightly slower pace than expected, a survey showed on Thursday.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its business activity index fell to 6.7 from 7.5 the month before. That fell shy of economists' expectations for a reading of 8.0, according to a Reuters poll.

The 61 estimates in the poll ranged from 3.5 to 14.5.

Any reading above zero indicates expansion in the region's manufacturing. The survey covers factories in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

It is seen as one of the first monthly indicators of the health of U.S. manufacturing, leading up to the national report by the Institute for Supply Management.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)