Philly Fed business index turns negative in May

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)
Business conditions at manufacturing firms in the Philadelphia region worsened in May, according to the monthly survey issued Thursday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia The Philly Fed index fell to -5.8 from 8.5 in April, well below expectations
Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected the index to increase to 10.0
Reading below zero indicate that more companies are contracting instead of expanding
The new-orders index dropped to -1.2 from 2.7 in April and the employment index, a gauge of hiring expectations, also turned negative