Add as a preferred source on GoogleNew York Manufacturing Gauge Climbs to Highest Level Since 2021
New orders and shipments strengthened, but the supply-availability index fell to its lowest level since June 2022.
A New York manufacturing gauge rose 17.9 points to 25.5 in October, its highest level since December 2021, signaling firmer regional conditions even as supply availability weakened.
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey covers manufacturers in New York state. Its headline reading is a diffusion index, which compares the share of respondents seeing conditions improve with the share seeing deterioration. It does not represent a percentage increase in factory production. In October, 44.4% of respondents indicated that business conditions improved, while 18.9% reported a decline, leaving the index at 25.5. The headline measure comes from a separate question; it is not an average of the survey’s other measures. Responses were collected from Oct. 2-9.
Orders and shipments both moved higher. The new-orders index gained 21.2 points to 23.2, up from 2.0 in September. The shipments index turned positive, rising to 13.1 from -3.2. The unfilled-orders index also climbed, reaching 14.0 compared with 5.9 a month earlier.
The delivery-times index reached 19.8, up from 18.8, while the supply-availability index moved further below zero to -15.1 from -11.9. The availability reading was its weakest since June 2022. The measures point to stronger orders and shipments alongside greater difficulty obtaining supplies; they do not measure physical production volumes.
Price measures moved in different directions. The prices-paid index eased to 59.5 from 63.1, while the prices-received index rose to 30.6 from 28.1. Both readings remained positive, even as the index for prices paid declined and the one for prices received increased.
Labor readings were mixed. The number-of-employees index was 10.3, little changed from September’s 10.6, while the average-workweek measure dropped to 9.1 from 17.0.
The future general business conditions index slipped eight points to 21.0 from 29.0 but remained above zero. “Employment continued to grow modestly and the pace of price increases remained elevated,” said Richard Deitz, an economic research advisor at the New York Fed.