After printing negative for the last 3 months and falling to the lowest since Jan 2013, Empire Manufacturing jumped to 3.86 (beating expectations of a 3.0 print for the first time since Jan). While some will celebrate (and others fear good news is bad news), both New Orders and Number of Employees fell in July, as inventories plunged. The main driver of the jump in the headline index was "hope" once again, rising for the first time since March.
[2]
New orders hover near 2 year lows...
[3]
Charts: Bloomberg
