The manufacturing sector expanded in March, with the Purchasing Managers Index coming in at 57.1%. Anything above 50% indicates growth. This was a decrease of 1.5 percentage points from the prior month’s 58.6%. Although this is the lowest reading since September 2020, the overall economy continued to expand for the 22nd consecutive month.
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Here’s the breakdown of the March PMI:
- New Orders Index: 53.8%, a 7.9% decrease month-over-month
- Production Index: 54.5%, a 4% decrease month-over-month
- Prices Index: 87.1%, an 11.5% increase month-over-month
- Backlog of Orders Index: a 60%, 5%decrease month-over-month
- Employment Index Figure: a 56.3%, 3.4% increase month-over-month
- Supplier Deliveries Index: a 65.4%, 0.7% decrease month-over-month
- Inventories Index: a 55.5%, 1.9% increase month-over-month
- New Export Orders Index: a 53.2%, 3.9% decrease month-over-month
- Imports Index: 51.8%, a 3.6% decrease month-over-month
“The U.S. manufacturing sector remains in a demand-driven, supply chain-constrained environment. In March, progress was made to solve the labor-shortage problems at all tiers of the supply chain, which will result in improved factory throughput and supplier deliveries. Panelists reported lower rates of quits and early retirements compared to previous months, as well as improving internal and supplier labor positions,” Timothy R. Fiore, ISM chairman, said.
March saw growth in 15 manufacturing industries, including:
- Apparel, Leather & Allied Products
- Furniture & Related Products
- Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products
- Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components
- Miscellaneous Manufacturing
- Machinery
- Textile Mills
- Transportation Equipment
- Fabricated Metal Products
- Paper Products
- Chemical Products
- Computer & Electronic Products
- Nonmetallic Mineral Products
- Primary Metals
- Plastics & Rubber Products
Wood Products and Petroleum & Coal Products reported a decrease in March compared to February.
