the numbers the philadelphia fed said thursday its gauge of regional business activity fell to 176 in april from jumping to 274 in the prior month economists polled by the wall street journal expected a 219 reading any reading above zero indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector key details the headline index is based on a single standalone question about business conditions unlike the institute for supply management’s national manufacturing index which is a composite based on components in april the underlying data of the philly fed index was also softer the barometer on new orders fell to 178 in april from 258 in the prior month the shipments index dropped to 191 from 302  the measure on sixmonth business outlook dropped sharply to 82 in april from 227 in the prior month price increases were also widespread the pricespaid index rose to its highest reading since june 1979 big picture demand for goods has kept factories humming but supply chain constraints and high prices may be the cause of the lack of optimism about months a similar survey the empire state index for new york surged 36 points to 246 in april economists use the regional fed surveys to get an early read on the institute for supply management’s national manufacturing activity index in march the ism factory index slipped 15 percentage points to 571 the lowest reading since september 2020 market reaction stocks djia spx were set to open higher thursday as a result of strong corporate earnings