Friday, August 21, 2026

The Economy -- August 21, 2025

Locator: 51520SURVEY.

Tag: Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey 

Let's do some parsing:

  • not exactly the Rust Belt, but pretty close -- PA, southern NJ, Delaware;
  • any reading above zero: expanding manufacturing conditions
  • activity rose to 47.4 -- one of the strongest readings in the survey's history --
  • six-month outlook surged to 73.6 -- reflecting peak optimism among regional business leaders.

A trailing indicator. Those who responded to the survey most likely knew how they would be responding to the survey a month ago. And business conditions that generated numbers like this could have happened overnight.