New York manufacturing conditions keep rising in January

Business conditions for New York Manufacturers continued to swing upward in January, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s monthly Empire State Manufacturing Survey.

The survey’s general business conditions index increased 5.3 points to 13.5 in January. The index, which was 8.2 in December, has been trending up since October 2011, according to the New York Fed.

About 35.2 percent of manufacturers reported better business conditions in January, while 21.7 percent indicated that conditions worsened. The remaining 43.1 percent of survey respondents said conditions remained the same.

The New York Fed recalibrated historical data for this month’s survey as part of an annual benchmark revision. Therefore, the current survey’s measure of last month’s general business conditions index, 8.2, is slightly different from the index of 9.5 that was first reported in December.

The new orders index rose 7.7 points to 13.7, meaning orders were up in January. The shipments index crept up 1.6 points to 21.7, demonstrating a slight increase in shipments.

Selling prices increased significantly, according to the survey. The prices received index rose 19.6 points to 23.1 in January. In contrast, the prices paid index climbed by just under two points to 26.4.

Optimism for the future also rose among manufacturers, the survey found. The future general business conditions index rose 9.3 points to 54.9 points.

The New York Fed polls a set pool of about 200 New York manufacturing executives for the monthly survey. About 100 executives typically respond and the Fed seasonally adjusts data.

Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com