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New York Purchasing Managers Business Activity at record high
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New York City business activity expanded at a record pace in May according to the survey taken by the Institute for Supply Man agement-New York (ISM-NY).
The Current Business Conditions index catapulted to 89.9 in May from 62.2 in April. The May level was the highest since the inception of the survey in 1993. The 27.6-point gain was the fifth largest on record. And the record high print was four months removed from the January record high in the Six-Month Outlook index.
Future optimism picked up and continued to be widespread. The Six-Month Outlook index rose to 84.2 in May from 75.9 in April. Purchasing and supply executives scaled back the volume of spending to a still rapid clip. The Quantity of Purchases index fell to 62.0 in May from 72.1 in April.
Job growth is accelerating. The Employment index rose to 63.3 in May from 61.8 in April, marking the highest level since at least November 2007. Input prices contracted after rising briefly last month. The Prices Paid index eased to 44.4 in May from 52.9 in April.
Business impediments have a more positive tone. Skilled labor shortages were the highest in a year and outnumbered working capital shortages for the first time in two years. This is a by-product of the jobs recovery. New York City payroll employment rose for four straight months through April after bottoming in December.
Posted: May 28, 2010 Friday 08:30 AM