New York manufacturing activity grew strongly in the month of April, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York revealed in a report on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The New York Fed said its general business<\/span> conditions index climbed to 26.3 in April from 17.4 in March, with a positive reading indicating growth in regional manufacturing activity. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 19.5.<\/p>\n With the much bigger than expected increase, the general business conditions index reached its highest level since hitting 26.6 in October of 2017.<\/p>\n The jump by the headline index was partly due to a substantial acceleration in the pace of growth in new orders, as the new orders index spiked to 26.9 in April from 9.1 in March.<\/p>\n The report said the shipments index also rose to 25.0 in April from 21.1 in March, while the number of employees index advanced to 13.9 from 9.4.<\/p>\n On the inflation front, the prices paid index jumped to 74.7 in April from 64.4 in March, reaching its highest level since July of 2008.<\/p>\n The prices received index also surged up to a record high 34.9 in April from 24.2 in March, indicating that selling prices increased at the fastest pace in more than twenty years.<\/p>\n Looking ahead, the New York Fed said firms remained optimistic that conditions would improve over the next six months.<\/p>\n The index for future business conditions rose to 39.8 in April from 36.4 in March, with firms expecting significant increases in employment and prices.<\/p>\n A separate report from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve showed an unexpected acceleration in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of April.<\/p>\n The Philly Fed said its index for current manufacturing activity rose to 50.2 in April from a downwardly revised 44.5 in March.<\/p>\n The increase surprised economists, who had expected the index to drop to 42.0 from the 51.8 originally reported for the previous month. <\/p>\n