NY Fed Business Survey: Service Sector Decline Slows

Every month, the New York Federal Reserve surveys business leaders in the service sector. Here is the report from the May survey:

“Business activity continued to decline in the region's service sector in May, though the pace of contraction slowed considerably, according to firms responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Business Leaders Survey.  The survey's headline business activity index rose eight points to -5.8, its highest level in more than a year.  The business climate index rose slightly but remained well below zero at -46.9, suggesting the business climate remained much worse than normal.  Employment inched higher, and wage growth slowed notably.  Supply availability continued to worsen.  Input price increases remained steep, and selling price increases remained elevated.  Looking ahead, firms became somewhat more optimistic about the outlook for the next six months.”

The New York Federal Reserve’s website contains a tremendous amount of business-related information.  It is worth examining.

You can find the full report for May here.