NEW YORK, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- The New York Federal Reserve said general business conditions rose to a positive level for the first time in six months in October.
After a run of six straight months of growth, the New York Fed's index for general business conditions slipped into negative territory, where it remained for five months.
In the survey taken in the first half of each month, however, the general business index for October added nine points to reach 0.6, the New York Fed said.
Numbers below zero indicate a contraction in business activity. Numbers above zero indicate growth.
In the October manufacturing survey for New York, the index for new orders slipped from just above zero at 0.16 to minus 2.1.
The shipments index rose from 5.33 to 9.4. The critical index measuring the number of employees dropped slightly while the index measuring hours worked rose slightly.
Sentiment was near a break-even point as 24 percent of respondents indicated conditions had improved in the month while 23 percent indicated conditions had grown worse.
