New York Empire Manufacturing Index Falls

The New York Empire Manufacturing Index plummeted, falling to -22.2 from -11.7 in February. The market had looked for an improvement to -7.4. This is the lowest this index has ever been since it started in 2001 (7 years). Any reading below zero indicates contraction. Both new orders and shipments were negative again in March, as the manufacturing sector continues to weaken. The New York survey is considered to be more sensitive to high tech, financial services, and international trade than some of the other regional surveys. New orders were at -4.7, an improvement from the -11.9 ( a 6.5 year low) in February, while shipments fell to -5.2 from -4.9 the prior month. Prices paid rose to 50.6, from 47.4 last month, (1.5 year high) with over half of respondents saying prices had risen. Prices received fell to 15.7 from 17.9. Forty-one percent of respondents indicated conditions had worsened this month versus 34% the prior month. On the brighter side, unfilled orders improved to +1.1 from -1.1. Employment rose to +4.5 from +2.1 in February. Inventories dropped to -4.5 from unchanged the prior month. And looking into the future, the six months expectations index rose to 25.8 from 22.7, but still remains below the levels of last year. Nationwide, manufacturing contracted at the fastest pace in almost five years last month, and this early reading indicates the slowdown is continuing, even for regions which can benefit from the weakening dollar encouraging export growth.