ISM Manufacturing Index Rebounds

The Institute for Supply Management reported a rebound in manufacturing activity during the month of March, though the industry continues to contract.

The nation's broadest measure of the health of the manufacturing sector rose from 48.3 in February to 48.6 in March. Recall that a reading above 50 indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding and below 50 indicates that it is generally contracting.

Supplier deliveries rose from 50.1 to 53. 6 and employment improved slightly from 46.0 to 49.2 but prices posted the biggest increase, from 75.5 to 83.5 reflecting a surge in commodity prices during the reporting period.

New orders, the best predictor of economic growth in the near-term, led the declining categories falling from 49.1 in February to 46.5 in March.

Comments

[jimbomo:]

Wait a minute, I thought this was good news. It looks like the new orders fell out of bed.

"New orders, the best predictor of economic growth in the near-term, led the declining categories falling from 49.1 in February to 46.5 in March."

EOM

2008 Apr 01 05:00 PM

[Wisdom-Seeker:]

Yet another negative news item mis-spun into bull-s***. This one is almost as good as the Realtor's "the bottom is in for housing" a short while ago.

The graph shows a convincing trend of lower highs and lower lows: it's still going down.

2008 Apr 01 07:30 PM

[Will Rahal:]

The ISM for Services should be interesting.
I claim that in the near future the preponderance of jobs in the service sector(84% of all employment) will decrease.

The search for alternative fuels will also help a switch from services employment into manufacturing.

2008 Apr 02 06:15 PM