by Calculated Risk on 4/15/2011 08:30:00 AM

From the NY Fed: Empire State Manufacturing Survey

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicates that conditions for New York manufacturers improved at an accelerated pace in April. The general business conditions index rose for a fifth consecutive month, reaching 21.7, its highest level in a year [up from 17.5]. The new orders index jumped 17 points, to 22.3, and the shipments index shot up 27 points to 28.3. The indexes for both prices paid and prices received rose to their highest levels in more than a year, indicating that price increases continued to accelerate.

The index for number of employees climbed to 23.1 [from 9.1], while the average workweek index edged down to 10.3. Future indexes continued to convey great optimism about the six-month outlook, and the capital spending and technology spending indexes were noticeably higher.

This was above expectations of a reading of 17.0. This is the first regional survey released for April and shows that manufacturing is continuing to expand.

Note: I'll post on inflation later when the median CPI is available. The BLS reported:

"The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.5 percent in March on a seasonally adjusted basis ... The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in March, a smaller increase than in the previous two months."