The manufacturing sector contracted in September for the sixth consecutive month and the 22nd time in the past 23 months, according to the Manufacturing ISM report on Business. The report was issued by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.
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The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was 47.2%, identical to August’s figure.
Here’s the breakdown of the September PMI:
- The New Orders Index rose by 1.5 percentage points, from 44.6% to 46.1%, but still remained in contraction territory.
- The Production Index registered 49.8%, up 5 percentage points from 44.8%, slowing the rate of contraction.
- The Prices Index was 48.3%, a decrease of 5.7 percentage points from August’s figure of 54%.
- The Backlog of Orders Index registered 44.1%, up half of a percentage point from August’s reading of 43.6%.
- The Employment Index registered 43.9%, down 2.1 percentage points from August’s figure of 50.3%.
- The Supplier Deliveries Index was 52.2%, 1.7 percentage points higher than the August reading of 50.5%.
- The Inventories Index fell 6.4 percentage points, from 50.3% in August to 43.9%.
- The New Export Orders Index registered 45.3%, a 3.3 percentage point decrease from August’s figure of 48.6%.
- The Imports Index was 48.3%, down 1.3 percentage points from the August reading of 49.6%.
Only one of the six biggest manufacturing industries – Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products – registered growth.
