NY Fed Report: Business Activity Down

Post: Sep. 20, 2016

Business activity decreased in New York State, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey for September 2016. The headline general business conditions index held below zero, and was little changed at -2.0. The new orders index fell eight points to -7.5 and the shipments index fell eighteen points to -9.4—developments that pointed to a marked decline in both orders and shipments. The labor market took a beating as well, with both employment levels and the average workweek reported as lower. On the brighter side, indexes for the six-month outlook suggested that firms generally expect conditions to improve in the months ahead. Read the full report.