New York City Business Activity Index Drops to Lowest on Record

(Bloomberg) -- A measure of business activity in the New York City area sank to the lowest level on record in March as the coronavirus pandemic ground the region’s economy to a near-halt.

The Institute for Supply Management-New York’s current business conditions index fell 39 points last month to 12.9, the lowest in data back to 1993 and well below its 27.1 reading in the depths of the global financial crisis. Levels below 50 signal contracting activity.

The forward-looking six-month outlook index declined 15.9 points to 37.9, the lowest since February 2009.

New York state governor Andrew Cuomo on March 12 instructed all Broadway theaters to shut their doors and by March 20 had joined California in ordering all residents to stay in their homes unless they had essential reasons to go out.

The survey results, collected between March 4 and March 31, come before the national ISM non-manufacturing report, due for release Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg project that the gauge will tumble to an 11-year low.

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