Empire State manufacturing still deep in negative territory

Business conditions in the New York region remained depressed in February, according to a survey from the New York Fed.

The Empire State manufacturing index edged up to -16.64 from -19.37 the previous month, but it missed economists’ expectations for a reading of -10.

This marked the seventh consecutive month the index remained below zero.

Meanwhile, the new orders index climbed 12 points to -11.6, showing orders fell at a slower pace than last month.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said the data was still grim, but it wasn’t clear whether this said anything about the national picture.

“Overall, we have no doubt that manufacturing is struggling both regionally and nationally, but the sector as a whole is not in recession and should stabilise over the next few months.”