NEW YORK, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The New York Federal Reserve said general business conditions dropped further into negative territory in August in the Empire State.
After six consecutive months of growth, the New York Fed's general business conditions index has been negative for three consecutive months. In August, the headline index dropped 4 points points to minus 7.7.
Prior to June, the last time the index was below zero was November 2010.
In the manufacturing index for New York, based on a survey taken the first two weeks of each month, new orders and remained below zero at minus 7.8. The shipments index turned positive, coming in at 3 points.
Numbers above zero indicate growth. Below zero indicates contraction.
The inventories index dropped from minus 5.5 to minus 7.6.
The index measuring the number of employees rose from 1.1 to 3.2, while the index measuring the average hours worked rose from minus 15.5 to minus 2.1.
