Philly Fed Manufacturing Index Drops To 20.7 In October From 22.5

Manufacturers in the Philadelphia region expanded a bit more slowly in October but growth was still strong, according to the Philadelphia Federal Reserve. The bank on Thursday said its business-conditions index fell to 20.7 from 22.5. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected the index to register 19.5. Any reading above zero indicated expansion. The Fed reported that the index for new orders rose to 17.3 from 15.5 in September, but shipments declined by 5 points to 16.6 and the employment index shrank to 12.1 from 21.2.