by Calculated Risk on 10/17/2016 08:33:00 AM

From the NY Fed: Empire State Manufacturing Survey

Business activity continued to decline in New York State, according to firms responding to the October 2016 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The headline general business conditions index slipped five points to -6.8.
...
After reaching their lowest levels of the year last month, both labor market indexes rose, but remained negative. The employment index increased ten points to -4.7 and the average workweek index edged up one point to -10.4, indicating that employment counts and hours worked continued to decline.
...
Indexes for the six-month outlook suggested that respondents were more optimistic about future conditions than in September. The index for future business conditions increased two points to 36.0.

This was below the consensus forecast of 1.0, and suggests manufacturing contracted in the NY region in October.