NY Fed Manufacturing Survey Shows Ongoing ‘Substantial’ Price Rises, Elevated Future Inflation Expectations

Sub-assembly worker Joel Dykema works on the sub-assembly of a transformer in the RoMan Manufacturing plant in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Dec. 12, 2018. Rebecca Cook/Reuters

New York state manufacturing activity rose more than expected in December, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report, which also noted the persistence of “substantial” inflationary pressures as both the current and future input price and selling price gauges remain close to record highs.

The headline general business index in the New York Fed’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey (pdf), published Dec. 15, rose to 31.9 from 30.9 in November, beating consensus forecasts for a much lower reading of 25.0.