the numbers the new york fed’s empire state manufacturing business conditions index rose 111 points to 309 in november the regional fed bank said monday economists had expected a reading of 22 according to a survey by the wall street journal any reading above zero indicates improving conditions key details the neworders index rose 45 points in november to 288 and the shipments index soared 193 points to 282 the pricesreceived index hit a record high in november while pricespaid reading was not far below its record high optimism dipped in november as the expectation index for sixmonths ahead fell 151 points to 369 big picture the empire state index has swung wildly in recent months after hitting 43 in july economists say manufacturing continues to struggle meeting high demand because of supply chain headaches economists and investors use the empire state index as an early gauge of the strength of the national ism november factory index to be released early next month in october the ism factory index held steady at a strong 608 reading