Empire Manufacturing Indexes Improve in October

The NY Fed's Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed an improvement in October for manufacturers in New York State, as the General Business Conditions index rose to 15.73 this month, an 11.6-point gain from the 4.14 level in September (see blue line above).  October marked the 15th consecutive month of a positive reading for the General Business Conditions index, following a 16-month period with 15 negative readings from February 2008 to July 2009 that coincided very closely with the recession period.  

The Future Conditions Index also improved in October to a three-month high of 40.0, which was a healthy gain of almost 9 points from 31.34 in September (see brown line above). Although both Empire indexes have been rather choppy lately, that's typical for these indexes as the graph above indicates.  After some weakness in both Empire indexes over the summer, New York's manufacturing industry seems to be bouncing back in the fall, based on the improvements in the indexes for both current conditions and future conditions.