Empire State manufacturing gauge jumps past forecasts in March
A widely-followed gauge of factory sector activity in the jurisdiction of the Federal Reserve bank of New York jumped sharply in March.
The so-called Empire State survey's headline index of general business conditions rose from a reading of 13.1 points for February to 22.5 in March.
Economists had penciled-in a reading of 15.0.
In parallel, a sub-index of new orders increased by 3.3 points to reach 16.8, while another that tracks shipments rocketed by 14.5 points to hit 27.0.
A gauge of prices paid by firms in the region's factory sector on the other hand only edged up by 1.7 points to 50.3, while the sub-index linked to levels of staffing at companies dipped by 1.5 points to 9.4.
"The Empire State numbers aren't bad, and the March subindexes mostly were stronger than in Feb, but the Philly data [which were published alongside the Empire State survey] are startlingly strong. Weighting the subindexes to match the structure of the national ISM index shows that the Philly numbers are consistent, at least, with the 14-year high in the ISM, reached in February; it was not a fluke.
"In short, the surveys signal that a robust manufacturing upswing continues unabated," said Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics.