New York, NY, August 15, 2006--Manufacturing activity in the New York area expanded at the slowest pace in more than a year in August, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said Tuesday.
The bank's Empire State Manufacturing index fell to a reading of 10.3 in August from a revised 16.6 in July.
The decline was larger than expected. Economists had been predicting the index would slip to 13.9 from the initial estimate of 15.6.
The Empire State index is of interest to traders primarily because it's seen as an early forecast of the national Institute for Supply Management factory survey due out in two weeks. In July, the ISM factory index rose to 54.7% from 53.8% in the previous month.
The new orders index rose to 19.1 from 11.3. Shipments rose to 14.8 from 12.3 in July. The employment index rose slightly to 6.5 from 6.4, while the workweek index rose to 13.7 from 9.5.
The prices paid index slipped to 44.6 from 50.5 in July. The prices received index fell to 14.9 from 16.5. Inventories were negative for the third consecutive month, improving slightly to -9.9 from -12.9.
The index of future capital expenditures rose to 26.5 in August from 22.0 in the previous month.
