The Philadelphia Fed Nonmanufacturing General Business Activity index fell from -12.9 in February to -17.5 in March.

• The current regional activity index fell further into negative territory to -32.5, its lowest reading since May 2020.
• The future general activity indexes suggest that the respondents expect continued declines in activity overall over the next six months, with both series falling to their lowest readings since April 2020.
• The New Orders index dropped -18.2 pts to -19.5, the lowest reading since April 2023, but the Sales index actually increased by 8.0 pts to -4.7.

• The Prices Paid index jumped 12.6 pts to 36.0, and the Prices Received index flipped from a slight contraction to a moderate increase at 8.4.
• The Full-Time Employment index dropped 10.0 pts to -7.5 with only 7.9% of firms reporting an increase in full-time employment.

• 61.4% of firms said that “uncertainty” is going to become a larger constraint on business in the next three months.