By Steve Goldstein
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Empire State manufacturing survey rose in April for the five consecutive month, with general business conditions rising over four points to 21.7, the best level in a year, the New York Fed said Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a dip to 15.5. The new orders index jumped 17 points, to 22.3, and the shipments index shot up 27 points to 28.3, the New York Fed said. The indexes for both prices paid and prices received rose to their highest levels in more than a year, indicating that price increases continued to accelerate. Nearly 80% of respondents indicated that the crisis in Japan was having little or no effect on their business. The Empire State survey is a diffusion index, meaning that it's calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents who say conditions are lower from those who say it's higher.
