Manufacturing activity in the region continued to expand this month, according to the firms responding to the September Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey. The survey’s indicators for general activity and shipments improved, but the new orders and employment indexes softened somewhat. Both price indexes remained elevated. The survey’s future general activity and new orders indexes continued to moderate, but the surveyed firms remained generally optimistic about growth over the next six months. The diffusion index for current general activity rose 11 points to 30.7 this month (see Chart 1). The current shipments ... (full story)