The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's monthly manufacturing index fell to 37.8 in September after rising to 47.4 in August, compared with expectations for a larger decrease to a reading of 32.1 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.
There were decreases in the readings for new orders, inventories and number of employees. The reading for shipments was unchanged.
The prices paid measure rose to 48.6 from 40.9 during the month, with 50.5% of respondents still experiencing higher prices compared with only 1.9% that reported paying lower prices.