Empire Manufacturing Contracts For 5th Month As Workweek Crashes Near Record Lows

While Empire Fed Manufacturing survey modestly beat expectations (-4.6 vs -7 exp), it has been in contraction for 5 straght months. The biggest driver of the ‘beat' was a massive surge in ‘hope' (six month outlook surged from 20 to 38.5 – its biggest percentage gain since Nov 2011). At the same time as hope soars, employment tumbles to 6 year lows and average workweek collapses to its lowest since the peak of the crisis in 2009.