Supply Chain Explained — Why Supply Chains Break: A Plain-Language Explainer

Global supply chains fail in stages, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York now scores that stress with a single number. Its Global Supply Chain Pressure Index pulls together shipping costs and factory survey readings, and a notice dated November 6, 2025 said publication had moved to limited data while key source series stayed suspended. Below, the whole supply chain explained in plain terms: what a link is, where pressure builds, how one break spreads, and why the main tracking index has been printing on partial data. Every figure traces to a primary source, mostly the New York Fed’s own research and index page. For related coverage, see Fed Holds Rates at 3.50–3.75 Percent as Committee Splits. What counts as a link in the chain? A supply chain is the path a product follows from raw input to finished sale. The New York Fed’s researchers give a plain example: final products produced by U.S. firms are frequently assembled from components and parts manufactured in Asia and Europe.

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