The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business conditions index fell 26 points to -20 in March.
In the past couple months, the index rose 18 points to 5.7 in February after sliding 15 points to -12.6 in January. The general business conditions index is the monthly gauge on New York’s manufacturing sector.
Based on firms responding to the survey, the March reading indicates business activity “dropped significantly” in New York State, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its Monday report.
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A negative index number indicates a decline in the manufacturing sector, while a positive reading points to expansion or growth in manufacturing activity.
The survey found the indexes for new orders and shipments both fell into negative territory at -14.9 and -8.5 respectively, the New York Fed said.
At the same time, optimism about the outlook “waned considerably” for a second straight month.
The New York Fed distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey on the first day of each month to the same pool of about 200 manufacturing executives in New York. On average, about 100 executives return responses.
