This week's manufacturing activity releases from the New York Fed and Philly Fed showed a slightly weaker but generally upbeat assessment of economic activity. The numbers from these two regional surveys may not be fully representative of the aggregate national economy, but they're usually a pretty good indicator. As shown in the chart below, they've been a decent guide to what the ISM Manufacturing index says about national activity since the Empire State manufacturing index started its releases in 2001.
Unlike these two indices, which have shown a general uptick in activity over the last