NAPM-NY Current Business Index Up to 60.2 in Oct.

“Business activity increased for a second straight month in November,” as the New York Current Business Conditions Index in the National Association of Purchasing Management-New York’s Report on Business increased in November to 60.2 from 54.7 in October, the NAPM-NY reported Friday. This was the second straight month business conditions showed expansion, as measured by a level greater than 50, after three months below. It was the highest reading for the index since April.The report’s six-month outlook index dropped to 60.5 from 65.0, while the NY-BCI increased to 445.0 from 439.9. 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.”The prices paid composite index rose to 55.6 this month from 48.2 last month, the first time the index had been below the 50 break-even point since November 2006; the quantity of purchases composite index rose to 58.3 from 57.1; and the supplier delivery time diffusion index slipped to 58.3 from 60.7.