New York Manufacturing Activity Down

New York, NY, March 16, 2009--Manufacturing in New York State fell to another record low in March, according to a survey released on Monday.

The New York Federal Reserve said its Empire State factory index fell to minus 38.23 in March -- the lowest in the history of the index, which dates back to July 2001. It was also down from February's minus 34.65.

Economists had expected a reading of minus 32.0.

One silver lining in the report was that the six-months-ahead expectations gauge of general business conditions improved to positive 3.14 from February's minus 6.56.

However, this was coupled with more signs that tight credit conditions were hampering business.

"The Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicates that conditions for New York manufacturers deteriorated significantly in March," the report said.

The report said its new orders and shipments indexes also dropped sharply to record lows and investment was also suffering, with capital spending and technology spending gauges also falling to their weakest on record.