Empire State Manufacturing Index Signals a Struggling Industrial Sector

The NY Empire State Manufacturing Survey is a monthly survey of New York-area manufacturers. Firms report on how business conditions have changed for a number of indicators, including production, new orders, employment, prices and company outlook. The Index is a regional survey, but its key indexes are highly correlated with state-level measures of business activity and employment.According to the Empire Manufacturing Index, general business activity in April decreased to 6.56 from 20.21 in March. This is worse than the expected estimate of 18.0. This is essentially bearish for the manufacturing sector and negative or general economic growth in the United States.According to the report, April's Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicates that manufacturing activity in New York State improved only modestly.The new orders and shipments indexes also remained positive, but showed only a small increase in orders and shipments. The prices paid index inched downward but remained high, and the prices received index climbed six points to 19.3.The index for number of employees rose to its highest level in nearly a year, indicating a significant increase in employment levels, while the average workweek index fell to a level that indicated only a small increase in hours worked. Future indexes remained quite positive, suggesting a strong and persistent degree of optimism about the six-month outlook.