The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index slipped less than a point to -6.6 in July. The general business-conditions index is the monthly gauge on New York’s manufacturing sector. Based on firms responding to the survey, the July reading indicates business activity “declined modestly” in New York State, the Federal Reserve Bank of New […]
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index slipped less than a point to -6.6 in July.
The general business-conditions index is the monthly gauge on New York’s manufacturing sector.
Based on firms responding to the survey, the July reading indicates business activity “declined modestly” in New York State, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its July 15 report.
A negative reading on the index indicates a decline in the sector, while a positive index number points to expansion or growth in manufacturing activity.
The survey found “new orders remained steady, while shipments inched just slightly higher,” the New York Fed said. It also found firms were “fairly optimistic” that conditions would improve in the months ahead.
Survey details
The new-orders index was little changed at -0.6, suggesting that orders remained flat, and the shipments index ticked up to 3.9, pointing to a slight increase in shipments, the New York Fed said.
Unfilled orders declined. The inventories index fell to -6.1, indicating that inventories moved lower.
The delivery-times index remained below zero at -9.2, suggesting that delivery times shortened, while the supply availability index was zero, indicating that supply availability was “unchanged.”
The index for number of employees was measured at -7.9, pointing to another month of employment contraction, while the average-workweek index came in around zero, suggesting that hours worked “held steady.”
The prices-paid index edged up slightly to 26.5, indicating that input prices continued to rise modestly, while the prices-received index came in at 6.1, indicating that selling-price increases remained “quite minor,” the survey found.
Firms remained “fairly optimistic” about the outlook, the New York Fed said. After climbing sharply the prior month, the index for future business conditions was just slightly lower at 25.8, with 41 percent of respondents expecting conditions to improve over the next six months.
However, the outlook for employment growth “remained weak,” and capital-spending plans “remained sluggish.”
The New York Fed distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey on the first day of each month to the same pool of about 200 manufacturing executives in New York. On average, about 100 executives return responses.
