The New York
Federal Reserve announced on Monday that its latest Business Leaders Survey
(BLS) found that services sector activity in New York State, northern New
Jersey and southwestern Connecticut was flat in early March.
According to
the survey, the BLS’s headline business activity index surged by 7.9 points to
0.6 in March, indicating that business activity in the New York-Northern New
Jersey region stabilized after six months of contraction.
Anything
below zero signals contraction.
According to
the report, the business climate index slipped 2.2 points to -26.4, suggesting
that the business climate remains worse than normal. Meanwhile, the employment
index increased 1.2 points to 0.6, signalling that employment levels were
almost unchanged. The wages index
fell 2.9 points to 43.8, indicating that wage growth eased slightly. On the
price front, the prices paid index jumped 4.5 points to 55.1 and the prices
received index climbed 3.3 points to 27.8, pointing to a modest acceleration in
the paces of input and selling price increases.