Richmond Fed Survey: Mfg Activity Steadied

“Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region stabilized in November, following a pullback in October,” according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and released yesterday. The manufacturing index rebounded to zero in November from negative 5 in October. Shipments reversed to positive 1 from negative 5, the Fed reported. Volume of new orders improved to negative 1 from negative 8, while the backlog of orders index decreased to negative 20 from negative 17.As for future outlook, six months from now, the shipments index was 34, off from the 36 posted last month, while the volume of new orders index slipped to 29 from 35, and backlog of orders fell to 6 from 16.