Empire State Manufacturing Surges to 19.6 in May, Beating Consensus on Orders and Prices

NY Fed’s Empire State Manufacturing Index jumped to 19.6 in May, far exceeding the 7.8 consensus, driven by new orders at 22.7 and prices paid soaring to 62.6 amid rising inflation signals. This caps a week starting with April existing home sales rising a meager 0.2% to 4.02M annualized units—missing 4.05M forecasts—amid 6.37% mortgage rates, $417,700 median prices, and 1.47M inventory. Retail sales then met expectations with a 0.5% gain to $757.1B, core ex-autos up 0.7% and control group +0.5%, highlighting consumer resilience offsetting housing softness for neutral-to-positive S&P 500 momentum.