New York Manufacturing Decelerates

- The Empire Manufacturing Index for January fell to 9.1 versus estimates of 19.3 and a reading of 22.2 in December.

BOTTOM LINE: Manufacturing growth in NY state slowed more than forecast this month as new orders and sales deteriorated, Bloomberg said. The Outlook component of the index fell to 32.5 from 41.9 in December. The New Orders component fell to 10.3 versus 22.5 in December. The Employment component fell to 6.9 versus 18.6 in December. The Prices Paid component bounced back to 35.1 from 28.1 the prior month. I continue to believe manufacturing will improve modestly later this year as auto production cutbacks subside and housing continues to stabilize at relatively high levels.