Mubasher: Manufacturing business activity recovered in February after hitting the lowest level in a year, New York Federal Reserve Bank’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed Friday.

The Empire State manufacturing index, gauging overall general business conditions, rose 4.9 to 8.8 points in February, compared with 3.9 points in January.

This came well above a reading of 7.6 points projected by analysts polled by Econoday.

The gauge remained below levels recorded last year, such as the 21.4 reading seen last November.

The new order index rose four points to 7.5 in February, while the shipments gauge came in at 10.4 points, marking a modest pace of growth, but it remained at the lowest level in more than a year.

The employment index declined for the second month in a row, shedding three points to a still-positive 4.1 which indicated an uptick in hiring levels.

By 2:11 pm GMT, the US dollar index rose 0.19% to 97.1610.