2/20/2015
By Jennifer Coombs

Although we prefer the data collected from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), its peer economic firm, Markit, noted that growth is actually quite steady in the US manufacturing sector. The flash reading (preliminary reading) for the February manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) came in at a strong 54.3 versus January’s flash reading of 53.7. The actual January PMI was 53.9.  Gains in the index were primarily led by production volumes, which are at a 4-month high. Some of the major drags on the index were due to slower growth in employment, at the slowest level in 7 months, and slower growth in new business, which was the slowest in 13 months due to weakness in exports and weakness among oil and gas customers. As was noted in previous reports, supplier deliveries are lengthening, which doesn’t reflect improving business conditions, but suggests that there are snags tied to extreme winter weather in the Northeast and slowdown on the West Coast due to delays and strikes at the Port of Los Angles. As with other manufacturing reports, both input and output prices are flat for the month. Ultimately, we note that this report echoes the results of the Empire State and Philly Fed reports this week: there is growth in the manufacturing sector in February but it remains subdued.

Jennifer Coombs
Wall Street Strategies

Add a Comment!