US Empire manufacturing Index for February -2.40 vs. -15.00 estimate

• Prior month -43.70 (lowest reading since May 2020 at the height of the pandemic.

Details:

• New orders -6.3 versus -49.4 last month
• Shipments 2.8 versus -31.3 last month
• Prices paid 33.0 versus 13.2 last month
• Prices Received 17.0 versus 9.5 last month
• Employment -0.2 versus -6.9 last month
• Average Employee workweek -4.7 versus -6.1 last month
• Unfilled orders -9.6 versus -24.2 last month
• Delivery times -3.2 versus -8.4 last month.
• Inventories -9.6 versus -7.4 last month

6- month forward:

• general business conditions 21.5 versus 18.8 last month
• new orders 28.3 versus 25.2 last month
• shipments 25.3 versus 24.6 last month
• prices paid 35.1 versus 40.0 last month
• prices received 23.4 versus 32.6 last month
• number of employees 11.0 versus 16.8 last month
• average work week 11.7 versus 14.7 last month
• capital expenditures 11.7 versus 13.7 last month
• technology spending 7.4 versus 9.5 last month
• unfilled orders 12.8 versus 16.8 last month
• delivery times 7.4 versus 11.6 last month
• inventories 3.2 versus 5.3 last month

Manufacturing activity in New York State continued to contract in February, albeit at a slower pace than the significant downturn observed last month. The general business conditions index, after a sharp decline over the previous two months, rebounded by forty-one points but still remained in negative territory at -2.4. The new orders index improved by forty-three points to -6.3, showing a continued but decelerating decline in orders. Meanwhile, the shipments index rose thirty-four points to 2.8, reflecting a slight increase in shipments. The unfilled orders index stood at -9.6, indicating a persistent drop in unfilled orders. Inventories appeared to shrink modestly with an index score of -9.6, and the delivery times index stayed negative at -3.2, suggesting shorter delivery times.

The employment situation remained stable with the number of employees index reaching approximately zero, indicating no change in employment levels. Conversely, the average workweek index showed a slight reduction in hours worked, at -4.7. Additionally, there was a notable increase in prices, with the prices paid index rising by ten points to 33.0 for a second consecutive month, and the prices received index increasing by eight points to 17.0. This suggests an acceleration in both the costs of inputs and the prices at which goods are sold.