For the second month in the past three, the Empire State Manufacturing Survey, which measures the industrial activity of the economies of New York State and surroundings (the survey also includes parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts) showed a dramatic contraction. The Survey’s index for May was at −11.6, an economic shrinkage unexpected by analysts who on average predicted a 15-point expansion reading. The largest contractions were in shipments of manufactured goods (−15) and in new orders for them (−8.8). There was no need to ask questions about “prices paid,” however, that part of the index was in drastic expansion at 72.3!
So New York State’s economy is pumping out inflation full blast, while industry and industrial employment shrinks. The popular discontent is finding a higher moral channel in the petition drive putting independent Diane Sare on the ballot for U.S. Senate after the state legislature thought it had made that impossible.
