Philly Fed: Manufacturing firms reported continued growth in October

"Manufacturing firms reported continued growth in regional manufacturing in October," the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported on Thursday.

Key highlights:

• The index for current manufacturing activity in the region increased 4 points to a reading of 27.9 and is now at its highest reading since May.
• More than 39 percent of the firms indicated increases in activity this month, while 11 percent reported decreases.
• Both the new orders and shipments indexes remained positive but fell this month, decreasing 10 points and 13 points, respectively.
• Both the unfilled orders and delivery times indexes were positive for the 12th consecutive month, suggesting longer delivery times and an increase in unfilled orders.
• The current employment index increased 24 points to a record high reading of 30.6.
• The average workweek index also increased 8 points, its highest reading in four months.