There was some discouraging - and unexpected - economic news for our area yesterday, as the New York office of the Federal Reserve announced that its index of business conditions for manufacturers dropped sharply in September, after a previous drop in August. OVerall, this was the sixth consecutive month that the reading fell.
The New York Fed covers, among other areas, northern New Jersey, so this is a local story for us. The readings for both new orders and shipments both fell for the month. A panel of economists surveyed by Dow Jones had forecast that the overall manufacturing index would hold steady in September, but instead it fell by 6 points.
There is some optimism about the future, though. The reading covering general business expectations for the next six months, which was already in positive territory for August, rose even further in September. The employee expectations index rose for the month as well.
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