Supply chain pressures turned positive last month for the first time in just over a year but remained near normal and were well under the levels of high stress seen during the most acute phase of the coronavirus pandemic, a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report released Wednesday said, Reuters reported. The bank said its February Global Supply Chain Pressures Index rose to a reading of 0.1 for last month, from a revised -0.23 reading in January. It was the first positive reading since January 2023. The bank provide no information on the factors that drove the index's level. Falling supply chain pressures — the New York Fed index peaked in December 2021 when it hit 4.35 — have been a key force helping lower inflation pressures. Rapidly cooling price pressures back toward the Fed's 2% inflation target have opened the door toward what are likely to be central bank rate cuts this year, although some unevenness in that retreat have complicated the question of when the easing might start. The relative calm of the supply chain index is likely to bolster Fed confidence that price pressures are indeed falling.
