After reporting a notable slowdown in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the previous month, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report on Wednesday showing an unexpected rebound in the pace of growth in the month of September.<\/p>\n
The New York Fed said its general business<\/span> conditions index surged up to 34.3 in September after plunging to 18.3 in August, with a positive reading indicating growth in regional manufacturing activity. <\/p>\n The substantial rebound in the pace of regional manufacturing growth came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to edge down to 18.0.<\/p>\n The pace of growth in both new orders and shipments showed significant rebounds, contributing to the bounceback by the headline index.<\/p>\n The new orders index spiked to 33.7 in September from 14.8 in August, while the shipments index soared to 26.9 from 4.4.<\/p>\n The report showed the number of employees index also climbed to 20.5 in September from 12.8 in August, indicating an acceleration in the pace of job growth.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the New York Fed noted the delivery times index jumped to a record high of 36.5 in September from 28.3 in August, pointing to significantly longer delivery times.<\/p>\n The prices received index crept up to 47.8 in September from 46.0 in August, while the prices paid index edged down to 75.7 from 76.1.<\/p>\n Looking ahead, the New York Fed said firms remained very optimistic that conditions would improve over the next six months.<\/p>\n