New York Business Activity Little Changed in February as Optimism Declines

Source: New York Federal Reserve

New York business activity expanded slightly in February, but optimism fell to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. NYF is down 0.23%.

• The General Business Conditions Index stood at 3.1, up by 3.8 points from the -0.7% recorded in January.
• The new orders index climbed by 6.4 points to 1.4 from -5.0, while the shipments index gained 1.9 points to 2.9 from 1.0 in the previous month.
• Increases were recorded in unfilled orders and the delivery time, indicating that delivery times lengthened significantly during the month.
• The indicator of employees jumped 7 points to 23.1, reflecting gains in employment levels while the average workweek was steady.
• The prices paid index fell by 0.1 points to 76.6 from 76.7, while prices received index jumped by 17 points to 54.1 from 37.1, indicating substantial price increases.
• The future business optimism index declined by 7 points to 28.2, marking the lowest level recorded since the early stages of the pandemic in 2020.