The contraction continued for York City business conditions in early 2008, according to the New York current business conditions index in the National Association of Purchasing Management-New York’s Report on Business. The index increased in March to 46.3 from 43.4 in February, the NAPM-NY reported yesterday.
The report’s six-month outlook index improved to 50.0 from 47.5. The NY-BCI decreased to 425.8 from 427.7. The NY-BCI is “a cumulative diffusion index constructed from the diffusion index of current business conditions for non-manufacturing businesses in the New York City area. The NY-BCI often precedes local employment trends,” NAPM-NY said. “Moreover, the NY-BCI offers advance information about forthcoming local labor market conditions because the count of local jobs is not available for one or two months.”