New York-area business activity fell to 'historic lows' in early April, the New York Fed says

Reuters/Stephen Lam

• Two indicators of business activity in the New York area fell to the lowest levels on record in early April, according to an analysis released this week from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
• The analysis highlighted the turmoil that efforts to stem the pandemic's devastation have inflicted on the New York region and on regions across the US. 
• John Williams, president of the New York Fed, said Friday in an interview with CNBC that some early second-quarter data that's coming in is "horrible." 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Two indicators of business activity in the New York area fell to the lowest levels on record as the pandemic depressed consumer spending and shuttered much of the regional economy, according to an analysis released this week from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The headline indexes in the Empire State Manufacturing Survey, which takes the temperature of New York manufacturing firms, as well as the Business Leaders Survey, which gauges the health of service firms in the New York-Northern New Jersey region, plunged to nearly -80. See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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