New York factory activity slows in September as prices paid climb to 63.1

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York published its Empire State Manufacturing Survey for September 2026 on 15 September. It is the first regional factory survey of the month.

The September readings

• General business conditions: 7.6, down 13 points from August but still positive
• New orders: 2.0
• Shipments: −3.2
• Number of employees: 10.6
• Prices paid: 63.1, up about five points
• Prices received: 28.1, up about five points
• General business conditions six months ahead: 29.0

Each index is the share of manufacturers reporting an increase minus the share reporting a decrease, so a positive number means more firms saw improvement than deterioration.

What the survey shows

Activity grew more slowly than in August: new orders were barely positive and shipments fell. Firms kept hiring, though, and stayed optimistic about the next six months.

The bigger signal is prices. With prices paid at 63.1, many more firms reported higher input costs than lower ones, and more of them also raised their own selling prices. National data tell a similar story: the ISM manufacturing prices index was 71.1 in August (report).

Why traders watch it

Regional surveys arrive before official factory data, so they are an early read on manufacturing (PMI and business surveys explained). On their own they rarely move currencies much, but rising price indexes add to the inflation concerns behind the Federal Reserve's rate increase on 16 September (report). Live prices: EUR/USD.