by Calculated Risk on 7/16/2009 10:00:00 AM

Here is the Philadelphia Fed Index released today: Business Outlook Survey.

The region's manufacturing sector is still experiencing weakness ....

The survey's broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, decreased from -2.2 in June to -7.5 this month. The index has been negative for 19 of the past 20 months, a span that corresponds to the current recession ...

Labor market conditions remain weak, and firms continue to report employment losses and declines in work hours. The current employment index declined to -25.3, from an already weak reading of -21.8. ...

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the Philly index for the last 40 years.

"The index has been negative for 19 of the past 20 months, a span that corresponds to the current recession."