February Empire State Manufacturing Report
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released its February 2016 Empire State Manufacturing Survey today, and to make a long story short, there’s not an awful lot to get excited about. For the seventh consecutive month New York manufacturers saw their business activity decline. Although the general business conditions index edged up three points to -16.6, after dropping to its lowest level since the Great Recession in January. The new orders index climbed twelve points to -11.6, meaning that orders fell, but at a slower pace than last month. The index for number of employees rose twelve points to -1.0, indicating that employment levels were flat. Indexes for the six-month outlook revealed that optimism about future business conditions remained weak after falling drastically last month.
