The New York
Federal Reserve announced on Monday that its latest Empire State Manufacturing
Survey found that manufacturing activity in New York State shrank further in early June.
According to
the survey, the NY Fed Empire State manufacturing index fell from 9.2 in May to
-16.0 this month, indicating that business activity in the New York region’s
manufacturing sector contracted for the fourth straight month.
Economists
had predicted the index to rise to -5.5.
A
reading below
zero signals contraction.
According to
the report, the new orders index plunged 21.2 points to -14.2 and the shipments
index tumbled 10.7 points to -7.2, indicating that both orders and shipments reduced last month. In addition, the
unfilled orders index plummeted 13.1 points to -8.3, pointing to a sharper decline
in unfilled orders. The inventories index decreased 3.9 points to +0.9, signalling
that business inventories held steady. Meanwhile, the employment index jumped 9.8 points to +4.7,
recording its first positive reading since January - a sign that employment increased
slightly. Elsewhere, the delivery times index increased 0.8 points to +1.8,
implying that delivery times were little changed, while the supply availability
index went up 3.1 points to -8.3, suggesting that supply availability continued
to worsen.
On the price
front, the prices paid index dropped 12.2 points to 46.8 in June, indicating that
the pace of input price gains slowed but remained substantial, while the prices received index rose 3.7 points to 26.6, suggesting
that selling price advances accelerated somewhat.