Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index is based on The Business Outlook Survey of manufacturers in the Third Federal Reserve District. Participants report the direction of change in overall business activity and in the various measures of activity at their plants: employment, working hours, new and unfilled orders, shipments, inventories, delivery times, prices paid, and prices received. The index above 0 indicates factory-sector growth, below 0 contraction.
A higher than expected figure should be seen as positive (bullish) for the USD while a lower than expected figure should be seen as negative (bearish) for the USD.