24/7 Wall St.

April’s release on the Empire State Manufacturing Survey from the New York Federal Reserve is showing that manufacturing activity in New York State appears to have improved modestly.  The report came in at a reading of 6.6 for the general business conditions index.  That is down 14 points from the prior month and well under the 18.0 expected.

The new orders and shipments indexes remained positive but showed only a small gain in orders and shipments. The prices paid component in the index went down slightly but remained high, while the prices received component of the index rose by 6 points up to 19.3.  There was an uptick to the number of employees rose to the highest level in nearly a year.  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.

The inventories index was little changed at 1.2, which suggests that overall inventory levels held steady.

JON C. OGG