Factories Come Back Strong

Things continue to look bright here in the Northeast, especially the industrial part of the area. The New York branch of the Federal Reserve - which covers New York, northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut - released its general economic index for February yesterday, and the figure far exceeded expectations. The figure is at 19.5, after sitting at 13.5 in January. In Bloomberg's survey of 56 economists, all asked to predict the number, not a single one had it that high.

Manufacturing is helping drive those numbers upward. The Fed announced that manufacturing grew at the fastest rate in the New York region than it had at any time since June 2010. Nationwide, factory output grew the most in December and January than it had in any two-month stretch since the recession was coming to an end, in July and August 2009.

Manufacturing isn't always that visible in the New York metro area, but it accounts for about 6 percent of the economic activity in the New York Fed's region. Nationally, manufacturing accounts for 12 percent of America's economy.