Manufacturing in New York state grew at a slightly slower pace in December as new orders fell, but business activity remained strong, according to the latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The general business conditions index slipped to an 18.0 reading this month from 19.4 in November, with 37% of firms reporting improved conditions and 19% reporting that conditions had worsened.
The new orders index decreased to 19.5 from 20.7 while the shipments index rose to 22.4 from 18.4. The unfilled orders index fell to -8.7 from -4.6 and the delivery time index went up to 4.3 from -2.3. The inventories index declined to 1.4 from 4.6.
Survey respondents continued to express an optimistic six-month outlook but to a lesser extent than in November. The future business conditions index fell to 46.6 from 49.9 while the measure of future new orders went down to 41.1 from 53.7. The future shipments index declined to 42.5 from 50.8 and the future unfilled orders figure decreased to 14.5 from 14.6.
