New York manufacturing activity unexpectedly declines
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Monday 15 Dec 2025
(Sharecast News) - Manufacturing activity in the wider New York region unexpectedly contracted this month, a closely followed survey showed on Monday, though firms were increasingly optimistic about future business conditions.
The so-called Empire State Manufacturing Survey, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, reported a headline general business conditions index of -3.9 in December, well below the consensus forecast of 10.6.
This was the first drop in activity in three months, with the index down 23 points from a one-year high of 18.7 in November and lower than the 10.7 registered in October.
New orders were steady over the month, with around a third of manufacturing firms reporting an increase and a third seeing declines, but shipments fell, with the sub-index for shipments dropping 23 to -5.7.
At the same time, the inventories index came in at 4.0, pointing to a small increase. However delivery times fell below zero to -5.9 and the unfilled orders index dropped to a 22-month low of -14.9.
The employment gauge was positive for the sixth straight month at 7.3, while both input and output prices indicators eased slightly.
Looking ahead, the index for future business conditions jumped 17 points to 35.7, its highest since January, with the survey showing that "indexes for future new orders and shipments both reached their highest levels of the year".
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