US Empire manufacturing index for September 2020

The US Empire manufacturing index for September rose by a greater than expected 17.0 verse 6.8 expected. The index was at 3.7 in August. The index reached 17.2 in July only to dip lower in August . The index level this month was the 2nd highest level since November 2018. The index is now been positive for 3 consecutive months with 40% respondents reporting that conditions had improved over the month while 23% reported that conditions had worsened.

Empire manufacturing index
  • Manufacturing index 17.0 vs. 3.7 last month
  • new orders index 7.1 vs. -1.7 last month
  • shipments 14.1 vs. 6.7 last month
  • number of employees 2.6 vs. 2.4 last month
  • average workweek 6.7 vs. -6.8 last month
  • unfilled orders -9.4 vs. -14.0 last month
  • prices paid 25.2 vs. 16.0 last month
  • prices receives 6.5 vs. 4.7 last month
  • inventories -3.6 vs. -10.7 last month
The empire
Component levels for Empire manufacturing

General business conditions six-month ahead also rose to 40.3 vs. 34.3 last month. In June the index peaked at 56.5. The forward-looking values showed:

  • new orders 39.1 vs. 37.2 last month
  • shipments 39.0 vs. 30.8 last month
  • number of employees 17.2 vs. 15.5 last month
  • average workweek 3.6 vs. 2.0 last month
  • prices paid 33.1 vs. 22.7 last month
  • prices receives 7.9 vs. 9.3 last month
  • inventory 0.7 vs. -0.7 last month
  • unfilled orders -3.6 vs. -5.3 last month
  • capital expenditures 18.7 vs. 6.0 last month
  • technical spending 14.4 vs. 8.0 last month