The Empire State manufacturing index in New York state rose in the month of March, though at a slower rate than economists had forecast. New orders and inventories jumped, the New York Federal Reserve said in a report on Monday.
The New York Fed’s Empire State general business conditions index rose to 5.61 in March, up from 4.48 in the month of February.
The new orders index rose to 3.13 from a -0.21 prior, while inventories jumped to 7.06 from -5.0.
However, the employment gauges showed mixed signals. The index for the number of employees dropped to 5.88 from 11.25 and the average employee workweek index increased slightly to 4.71 from 3.75.
The index of business conditions six months ahead bottomed a bit to 33.21 from 38.99 in February.
The survey of manufacturing plants in the state is one of the earliest monthly guideposts to U.S. factory conditions, and precedes the Philadelphia and Midwest index.
