The US manufacturing industry contracted for the sixth consecutive month in April, according to a report by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).
The ISM manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 47.1% last month — 0.8 percentage points higher than the 46.3% recorded in March.
While a reading above 50 indicates growth, below that shows contraction.
The market expectation for the index, based on replies from purchasing and supply executives in more than 400 industrial firms, was to come in at 46.8% in April.
“Turnover rates declined in April, recording the lowest levels since measurements began in mid-2021,” said Timothy Fiore, the chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.
The new orders index failed to leave the contraction zone, despite rising to 45.7% in April – 1.4 percentage points higher than 43.3% in March.
The production index was still in contraction territory as well with a reading of 48.9%, which was a 1.1 percentage point gain from the previous month’s figure of 47.8%.
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