manufacturing activity in the new york state stalled in february for the second consecutive month according to data from a survey compiled by the federal reserve bank of new york released tuesday the empire state manufacturing surveys general business conditions index rose to 31 in february from minus 07 in january well below the 110 consensus forecast by economists polled by the wall street journal survey results signal that regional factory activity grew marginally over the month as any reading above zero suggests that the sector is expanding business activity was little changed in new york state the new york fed said around 34 of the firms polled in february said business conditions had improved while 30 reported that conditions worsened demand for goods held steady in february the new orders index rose to 14 from minus 50 the previous month and the shipments index increased slightly to 29 from 10 labor market indicators pointed to a solid increase in employment the ny fed said the index for number of employees rose to 231 from 161 the month before while the average workweek index was broadly stable at 109 the delivery times index was unchanged at 216 signaling that vendor times continued to lengthen the unfilled orders index edged up to 144 from 121 the data showed price pressures remained widespread according to the survey the prices paid index was broadly unchanged at 766 remaining near its recent peak while the prices received index increased sharply to 541 from 371 reaching a new record high respondents to the survey were optimistic about the shortterm outlook although much less so than in january the index for future business conditions fell to 282 from 351 the lowest level since the early stages of the pandemic plans for capital and technology spending remained strong and longer delivery times higher prices and increases in employment are all expected in the months ahead the ny fed said