NY Manufacturing Expands Slightly, Costs Rise Sharply

The New York Fed’s Empire State manufacturing index came out this morning at 20.2 its fourth consecutive positive reading. The index measures manufacturing activity in New York state. Economists had been expecting a reading of 17.7.

Overall, one third of respondents say business conditions have improved and just 13% say conditions have worsened. The index reading for future business conditions dropped slightly, from 50.4 in February to 47.5 in March. Though lower, the future conditions reading is still positive and indicates that businesses are optimistic about the future.

A sour note from the survey shows that input costs rose sharply in March, to a reading of 50.6 up from 25.9 in February. The last time prices were this high was in June 2011. Combined with today’s report on producer prices, we could be seeing the effects of sharply higher fuel costs on manufacturing.

The reading on capital spending is at its highest in level in more than a year, while spending on technology also increased in March. The outlook for employment is also higher.

Paul Ausick