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Empire State Manufacturing Survey Conditions continued to decline in April 2024
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Business activity continued to decline in New York State, according to firms responding to the April 2024 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The headline general business conditions index rose seven points but remained below zero at -14.3. New orders and shipments both declined significantly, and unfilled orders continued to shrink. Delivery times shortened, and inventories edged higher. Labor market conditions remained weak, with employment and hours worked moving lower. The pace of input price increases picked up somewhat, while the pace of selling price increases held steady. Though firms expect conditions to improve over the next six months, optimism remained subdued.
Activity Continues to Shrink
Manufacturing activity continued to contract in New York State, according to the April survey. The general business conditions index rose seven points but remained well below zero at -14.3. The new orders index was little changed at -16.2, and the shipments index fell eight points to -14.4, pointing to an ongoing decline in both orders and shipments. The unfilled orders index held steady at -10.1, a sign that unfilled orders continued to fall. The inventories index moved up sixteen points to 3.4, indicating that inventories edged higher for the first time in several months, and the delivery times index fell to -7.9, suggesting that delivery times shortened.
Labor Market Indicators Weaken
The index for number of employees came in at -5.1, and the average workweek index was little changed at -10.6, pointing to an ongoing decline in employment levels and hours worked. The prices paid index moved up five points to 33.7, indicating that input price increases picked up slightly, and the prices received index held steady at 16.9.
A Minority of Firms Expect Conditions to Improve
Optimism about the outlook remained subdued. The index for future business conditions dipped five points to 16.7, with only 37 percent of respondents expecting conditions to improve in the next six months. The outlook for employment growth weakened noticeably. The capital spending index fell to 6.7, suggesting that capital spending plans remained soft.
Posted: April 15, 2024 Monday 08:30 AM