The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business conditions index improved 12 points in April but remained below zero at -8.1, which indicates continued contraction in the sector.
In the past few months, the index deteriorated 26 points to -20 in March after gaining 18 points to 5.7 in February. The general business conditions index is the monthly gauge of New York’s manufacturing sector.
Based on firms responding to the survey, the April reading indicates manufacturing business activity “declined modestly” in New York state, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its Tuesday report.
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A negative index number shows a decline in the manufacturing sector, while a positive index reading indicates expansion or growth in manufacturing activity.
The survey found the indexes for new orders and shipments persisted below zero as new orders fell modestly and shipments edged lower.
At the same time, manufacturing firms turned pessimistic about the outlook, with the future general business conditions index falling to its second lowest reading in the more than 20-year history of the survey, the New York Fed said.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York 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 state. On average, about 100 executives return responses.
