Your Economy (No Politics)

[Bullwinkle]

Empire State factory index weakens in April -
Monday, April 17, 2006 1:46:50 PM
http://www.afxpress.com


WASHINGTON (AFX) -- Manufacturing activity in the New York area declined sharply in April, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said Monday. The bank's Empire State Manufacturing index fell to 15.8 in April from a revised 29.0 in March. This is the lowest level of activity since last October. The decline was larger than expected. Economists had been expecting the index to fall to 24.5 from the New York Fed's initial estimate last month of 31.2. The New York factory index is primarily used by economists to get an early read on the national Institute for Supply Management factory activity survey

Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said the fall in the Empire State index implies that the ISM index will slip to around 53.0 from 55.2 in March

"It certainly looks soft," Shepherdson said

However, the outlook for the next six months was more optimistic. The future general business conditions index rose to 42.3 from 38.1 in March

All major subcategories declined in April

New orders slipped to 14.1 from 27.0 in March Meanwhile, shipments fell sharply to 14.0 in April from 36.5 in the previous month

Unfilled orders fell to minus from a reading of 13.2 in March. This is the lowest reading since last June

Inventories decreased to 1.6 in April from March's 8.6

The employee index slipped to 17.4 in April from 20.1 in March

Inflation pressures held steady in April

The prices paid index fell to 37.9 in April from 39.3 in March

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