After the biggest miss in over a year, Empire manufacturing rebounded phoenix-like to its biggest beat in 5 years and highest level in 4 years (at 19.0). The massive surge in the headline was matched by a huge jump in the number of employees - great news, except that the average work week was stable and proces received tumbled. What is more worrisome - and suggests this spike is entirely unsustainable is the outlook for capex and tech spending dropped, average workweek expectations shrank, and the number of employees is expected to fall.
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And here is the outlook section of the report...
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