ISM report notes slight May manufacturing gains
Manufacturing output, for the month of May, eked out a slight gain over April, while remaining in growth mode, according to the most recent edition of the Manufacturing Report on Business, which was issued today by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).
The report’s key metric, the PMI, came in at 56.1 (a reading of 50 or higher indicates growth), for a 0.7% increase over March’s 55.4 reading, marking the 24th consecutive month of growth, at a faster rate, as well as the 24th consecutive month of overall economic growth.
May’s PMI reading is 2.7% below the 58.8 average over the last 12 months, with June 2021’s 60.9 and April’s 55.4 marking the respective high and low readings for that period. What’s more, March and April’s PMI readings represent the two lowest monthly PMI readings since September 2020’s 55.4.
ISM reported that 15 manufacturing sectors reported growth in May, including: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Machinery; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Transportation Equipment; Paper Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Chemical Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Primary Metals; and Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components. Each of the six largest manufacturing sectors— Machinery; Computer & Electronic Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Transportation Equipment; Petroleum & Coal Products; and Chemical Products—saw moderate to strong May gains, added ISM. The lone industry seeing a decline was Furniture & Related Products.
