The general business conditions index for June came in at 6.01 in June.
Economists were expecting the index to come in at -4.90.
The new orders index and the shipments index rose from negative values to 10.9 and 9.3, respectively. The report notes that this is a sign that orders and shipments were increasing after last month’s decline.
However, the inventories index dropped to -15.3 and the employment index came in at zero.
"Firms were more optimistic about the six-month outlook this month, and capital spending plans picked up," the report added.