The Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing Report On Business Survey. (Photo: REUTERS)
The ISM Report on Business, the Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of factory activity nationwide, rose to 54.7 in December from 53.2 in November. Economists expected an increase to 53.6 for the month.
Readings above 50 point to expansion, while those below indicate contraction.
“The New Orders Index registered 60.2 percent, an increase of 7.2 percentage points from the November reading of 53 percent,” Bradley J. Holcomb, chair of the Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. “The Production Index registered 60.3 percent, 4.3 percentage points higher than the November reading of 56 percent.”
Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 11 are reporting growth in December in the following order: Petroleum & Coal Products; Primary Metals; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Paper Products; Machinery; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Computer & Electronic Products; Fabricated Metal Products; and Chemical Products.
“The Employment Index registered 53.1 percent, an increase of 0.8 percentage point from the November reading of 52.3 percent,” Mr. Holcomb added. “Inventories of raw materials registered 47 percent, a decrease of 2 percentage points from the November reading of 49 percent.”
The six industries reporting contraction in December — listed in order — are: Plastics & Rubber Products; Furniture & Related Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Textile Mills; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; and Transportation Equipment.
| MANUFACTURING AT A GLANCE December 2016 |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index | Series Index
Dec |
Series Index
Nov |
Percentage
Point Change |
Direction | Rate of Change | Trend* (Months) |
| PMI® | 54.7 | 53.2 | +1.5 | Growing | Faster | 4 |
| New Orders | 60.2 | 53.0 | +7.2 | Growing | Faster | 4 |
| Production | 60.3 | 56.0 | +4.3 | Growing | Faster | 4 |
| Employment | 53.1 | 52.3 | +0.8 | Growing | Faster | 3 |
| Supplier Deliveries | 52.9 | 55.7 | -2.8 | Slowing | Slower | 8 |
| Inventories | 47.0 | 49.0 | -2.0 | Contracting | Faster | 18 |
| Customers’ Inventories | 49.0 | 49.0 | 0.0 | Too Low | Same | 3 |
| Prices | 65.5 | 54.5 | +11.0 | Increasing | Faster | 10 |
| Backlog of Orders | 49.0 | 49.0 | 0.0 | Contracting | Same | 6 |
| New Export Orders | 56.0 | 52.0 | +4.0 | Growing | Faster | 10 |
| Imports | 50.5 | 50.5 | 0.0 | Growing | Same | 3 |
| OVERALL ECONOMY
Manufacturing Sector |
Growing | Faster | 91 | |||
| Growing | Faster | 4 | ||||
Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business® data is seasonally adjusted for the New Orders, Production, Employment and Supplier Deliveries Indexes.
*Number of months moving in current direction.
