A couple of releases earlier this morning ...

• From the NY Fed: May Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicates manufacturing activity expanded at a moderate pace

The May Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicates that manufacturing activity expanded in New York State at a moderate pace. The general business conditions index rose eleven points to 17.1. The new orders index inched up to 8.3, and the shipments index shot up eighteen points to 24.1. ... Employment index readings remained relatively healthy, suggesting that employment levels and hours worked continued to expand. ... The index for number of employees was little changed at 20.5, and the average workweek index rose six points to 12.1.

This was above the consensus forecast of 10.0, up from 6.6 in April (above zero is expansion).

• From BuildFax:

Residential remodels authorized by building permits in the United States in March were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 2,781,000. This is 1 percent below the revised February rate of 2,811,000 and is 10 percent above the March 2011 estimate of 2,522,000.

"Overall, March 2012 had lower remodeling activity than February, which saw significantly greater-than-expected activity, likely due to the unseasonably warm winter weather," said Joe Emison, Vice President of Research and Development at BuildFax.

The BuildFax Remodeling Index (BFRI) is based on construction permits for residential remodeling projects filed with local building departments across the country. The index estimates the number of properties permitted. The national and regional indexes are based upon a subset of representative building departments in the U.S. and population estimates from the U.S. Census. The BFRI is seasonally-adjusted using the X12 procedure.

Even with the decline in March, the remodeling in is up 10% year-over-year.