The New York
Federal Reserve announced on Monday that its latest Empire State Manufacturing
Survey found that manufacturing activity in the New York State was little
changed in early December
after solid growth in the previous month.
According to
the survey, the NY Fed Empire State manufacturing index plunged from +31.20 in November
to +0.20 this month, indicating that business activity in the New York region’s
manufacturing sector held steady after growing at the fastest pace in 35 months
in November.
Economists
had anticipated the index to drop to +12.00.
A
reading above zero indicates expansion.
According to
the report, the new orders index tumbled 21.9 points to 6.1 and the shipments
index plunged 23.1 points to 9.4, suggesting modest gains in both orders and shipments.
In the meantime, the unfilled orders index increased 1.9 points to -8.4, indicating a continuing decline in unfilled orders. The inventories index surged 9.5 points
to 10.5, signalling that inventories grew at a substantial clip. The delivery
times index decreased 10.5 points to -7.4, implying that delivery times were
shorter, and the supply availability index jumped 5.2 points to 1.1, indicating
that supply availability was little changed. The employment index dropped 6.7 points
to -5.8, pointing to a small decline in employment.
On the price
front, the prices paid index fell 6.7 points to 21.1 in December while the prices received index declined 8.2 points to 4.2, indicating that the
paces of input and selling price increases eased.