New York Area Factory Sentiment Rises to Three-Month High
By Lorraine Woellert - Jun 17, 2013 8:36 AM ET
Manufacturers in the New York region felt more optimistic in June even as orders, sales and employment dropped, indicating the area’s factories are looking beyond the current slowdown in growth.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index climbed to 7.8 this month, the highest reading since March, from minus 1.4 in May. Readings of greater than zero signal expansion in New York, northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of 51 economists called for a reading of zero.
The headline index is considered more of a sentiment reading because it’s derived separately from underlying measures of economic strength, which deteriorated last month. Businesses are putting off equipment purchases as they continue to navigate the effects of this year’s across-the-board federal spending cuts, known as sequestration, and higher taxes. Manufacturers also have been hindered by a recession in Europe and a slowdown in China.
“Manufacturing has been one of the slow parts of the economy,” John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York, said before the report.
“Consumers are doing their share. What’s missing is the business investment side, which is lackluster.”
Estimates in the Bloomberg survey of economists ranged from minus 5 to 10.
more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-17/new-york-area-factory-sentiment-rose-to-three-month-high-in-june.html
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