Empire State manufacturing improves more than expected in June

Business conditions in the New York region improved a lot more than expected in June, according to a survey from the New York Fed.

The Empire State manufacturing index rose 21 points to 19.8 from -1, beating expectations for a reading of 4 and marking the highest level since September 2014.

The new orders index was up 23 points to 18.1, while the shipments index rose to 22.3 from 10.6 and the inventories index climbed to 7.7 from -0.7 in May.

Indexes assessing the six-month outlook suggested that firms continued to expect conditions to improve. The index for future business conditions was little changed at 41.7 and the index for future new orders rose nine points to 42.2.