Economy
Weak Conditions on the Horizon: Empire State Manufacturing Survey
Written by Becca Moczygemba
October 18, 2022
Business activity in the state of New York has recently declined, according to the Empire State Manufacturing Survey responses collected by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York between Oct. 3 and Oct. 11.
The survey’s headline general business conditions index dropped to -9.1 for October, maintaining a negative value for the third straight month.
The index plummeted to -31.30 in August, its lowest reading since May 2020. A recovery in September came in better than expected at -1.5, though still not ideal, as any reading below zero denotes deteriorating conditions.
Shipments plunged a staggering 19.9 points to -0.3 despite a small increase in the average number of hours worked per week.
“Delivery times held steady, and inventories inched higher. Labor market indicators pointed to a small increase in employment and the average workweek. Input price increases picked up, while the pace of selling price increases held steady. Looking ahead, firms do not expect business conditions to improve over the next six months,” the NY Fed said in its monthly survey report.
With weak conditions on the horizon, the indexes for future new orders and shipments remained low at -8.3 for new orders and -14.5 for shipments, respectively. However, employment and capital spending are expected to increase, while delivery times are predicted to shorten significantly.
An interactive history of the Empire State Manufacturing Index is available on our website. If you need assistance logging into or navigating the website, please contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
By Becca Moczygemba, Becca@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Becca Moczygemba
Read more from Becca MoczygembaLatest in Economy
Steel groups welcome passage of budget bill
Steel trade groups praised the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) in Congress on Thursday.
Industry groups praise Senate for passing tax and budget bill
The Steel Manufacturers Association and the American Iron and Steel Institute applauded the tax provisions included in the Senate's tax and budget reconciliation bill.
Chicago PMI dips 0.1 points in June
The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) slipped 0.1 points to 40.4 points, in June.
Multi-family pullback drives housing starts to 5-year low in May
US housing starts tumbled in May to a five-year low, according to figures recently released by the US Census Bureau.
Architecture firms still struggling, ABI data shows
Architecture firms reported a modest improvement in billings through May, yet business conditions remained soft, according to the latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI) release from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Deltek.