New York manufacturing index remains in negative territory in September

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index inched up 2 points but remained below zero at -2.0 in September.

The results of the September survey indicate that business activity “edged lower” for New York manufacturers, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its news release issued Thursday.

A negative reading indicates a decline in manufacturing activity, while a positive number on the index indicates expansion or growth in the sector.

The September index level was slightly worse than economists expected. Those surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expected a reading of -1.0 while MarketWatch reported that economists expected the index to land at -0.5.

The Empire State survey found 22 percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 24 percent reported that conditions had worsened.

The survey’s new-orders index fell eight points to -7.5 and the shipments index fell 18 points to -9.4, pointing to a “marked decline” in both orders and shipments.

Labor-market conditions “weakened,” with both employment levels and the average workweek reported as lower.

Price indexes remained close to last month’s levels, and indicated “ongoing moderate” input-price increases coupled with a “continued” slight increase in selling prices.

Indexes for the six-month outlook suggested that New York manufacturing firms generally expect conditions to improve in the months ahead.

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