The general business conditions index of the Empire State Manufacturing Survey climbed to 30.2, up 5.8 points from last month, indicating “robust” growth in NYS manufacturing. The Index has not been higher since October 2009 when it hit 33.3. The future conditions index was also up to 44.8, but had been as high as 49.7 in January 2017. These results are in line with national numbers at the beginning of the month from the Institute of Supply Management’s PMI Index which registered 60.8, its highest reading since May 2004.
