Old news on import prices/NY mfr'g outlook falls to 24 yr low

In what is now very old news, both because of the onslaught of tariffs and also the weaker US dollar, March import prices were benign, falling one tenth m/o/m headline, unchanged ex petroleum and and up one tenth ex food and energy fuels. This is all about to change. Transitory? Not? One time step up in price? Or not because of the multi year shifting around of global supply chains and likely shortages of certain things until they do? We’ll soon see.

The April NY manufacturing index, the first April figure to be released, was -8.1, though up from -20 in March and better than the estimate of -13.5. Prices paid rose 6 pts to 50.8, the highest since August 2022. Prices received were up by 6.3 pts to 28.7, also the most since August 2022. New orders remained negative though backlogs rose back above zero. Employment was negative for a 5th month in the past 6.