Philadelphia Federal Index

See: Philadelphia Fed Survey.

The Philadelphia Federal Index, or the Philadelphia Fed Survey, is a survey the Fed gives to manufacturers in the Third Federal Reserve District in the U.S. That covers Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware.

Manufacturers answer questions about growth, how smoothly business is running, and what they expect of the future for manufacturing. Look into your crystal ball, manufacturers, and tell us the economic future.

While the Philadelphia Federal Index covers a small region, it’s considered an economic indicator. It doesn’t have the best predictive power, but it does have historical data on its side, since it’s been around since 1968...right before we went to the moon. Oh, the good ol' Cold War times.