Economists forecast that the index of current activity rose in August to 2 from -2.9 in July.
This would reflect the uneven recovery in manufacturing that other regional and national data have shown in the last few months. The Philly Fed index has turned positive only twice this year.
Since being slammed in 2015 by softer global demand, the stronger dollar, and weak commodity prices, the manufacturing sector has struggled to meaningfully recover.
The Philly Fed's special question to respondents for this report was on expected changes to prices they receive for goods and services over the next year, or producer-price inflation.