New York manufacturing activity declines for a second month

New York manufacturing activity contracted for a second straight month in September as employment in the industry fell for the first time in more than two years and new orders and shipments continued to decline.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index was -14.7 in September, “little changed” from -14.9 in August, its lowest level since 2009, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Tuesday.

A reading below zero represents a decline in manufacturing activity while a positive number shows expansion.

Economists that Reuters polled had expected a reading of -0.75 this month, according to an article on the monthly survey posted Tuesday on its website.

The Empire State Survey found 20 percent of New York manufacturing respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 35 percent said that conditions had worsened.

The August and September levels marked the first back-to-back contractions since a six-month run in negative territory between August 2012 and January 2013, according to the Reuters article.

The Empire State Survey found continued declines in new orders and shipments. In addition, the index for number of employees fell below zero for the first time in well over two years, slipping eight points to -6.2, according to the New York Fed.

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.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com