(Bloomberg) -- Manufacturing in New York continued to expand in January, though at a slightly slower pace than a month earlier, indicating more moderate growth for the Empire State’s factories.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general business conditions index eased to 3.5 from 4.9 a month earlier, a report Friday showed. Figures above zero indicate expansion, and the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a reading of 6.
The Empire State report is the first of several regional Fed manufacturing indexes to be released this month.
The bank’s gauge of new orders increased to 6.6 from 3.4, while the shipments index declined to 7.3 from 12.1.
Prices paid for materials increased to 45.5, the highest since September 2018, while a gauge of prices received climbed to an almost one-year high of 15.2.
A measure of the number of employees fell to 11.2 in January from a two-year high of 14.2.
Optimism about economic conditions over the next six months cooled among New York manufacturers. The regional Fed bank’s future index decreased to 31.9 from 36.3.