Empire State Survey indicates sector expansion The general business-conditions index of the monthly Empire State Manufacturing Survey bounced back into positive territory in November — climbing 14 points to 4.5 — as the industry expanded again. The index had declined 8 points to -9.1 in October as the sector contracted. The general business-conditions […]
Empire State Survey indicates sector expansion
The general business-conditions index of the monthly Empire State Manufacturing Survey bounced back into positive territory in November — climbing 14 points to 4.5 — as the industry expanded again.
The index had declined 8 points to -9.1 in October as the sector contracted. The general business-conditions index is the monthly gauge of New York state’s manufacturing activity.
The November index reading — based on firms responding to the survey — indicates business activity “edged slightly higher” in New York, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its Nov. 15 survey report. The improvement was much better than expected as economists were expecting the benchmark index to remain in negative territory at about -6, according to a cnbc.com article.
A positive index number indicates expansion or growth in manufacturing activity, while a negative reading shows a decline in activity.
The survey found 33 percent of manufacturing respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 29 percent said that conditions had worsened, the New York Fed said.
Survey details
The Empire State Survey’s new-orders index slipped 7 points to -3.3, pointing to a small decline in orders, while the shipments index rose 8 points to 8.0, indicating that shipments increased, the New York Fed said.
The unfilled-orders index moved down to -6.8, a sign that unfilled orders were slightly lower. The delivery-times index came in at 2.9, indicating delivery times were little changed.
The inventories index jumped 12 points to 16.5, “pointing to rising inventories.”
The index for number of employees climbed 5 points to 12.2, pointing to an increase in employment levels. The average-workweek index edged up to 6.9, signaling a small increase in hours worked.
The prices-paid index was little changed at 50.5, suggesting that input prices increased at about the same pace as the prior month, while the prices-received index rose 4 points to 27.2, pointing to a small pickup in selling-price increases.
The index for future business conditions fell 4 points to -6.1, indicating that on net firms expect conditions to worsen over the next six months. The indexes for future new orders and shipments fell into negative territory, though employment is expected to continue to increase.
Modest increases in capital spending and technology spending are planned for 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 state. On average, about 100 executives return responses.