A
report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed on Wednesday the
U.S. manufacturing sector’s activity expanded in November at a slightly quicker
pace than in October.
The
ISM's index of manufacturing activity - the manufacturing PMI - came in at 61.1 percent last month, up 0.3
percentage point from an unrevised October reading of 60.8 percent. The latest reading pointed to the
growth in the manufacturing sector for the 18th straight month.
Economists'
had forecast the indicator to increase to 61.1 percent.
According
to the report, the Production Index rose 2.2 percentage points m-o-m to 61.5
percent in November, while the New Orders Index increased 1.7 percentage points
to 61.5 percent, and the Employment Index went up 1.3 percentage points to 53.3
percent. At the same time, the Supplier Deliveries Index plunged 3.4 percentage
points to 72.2 percent last month, the Backlog of Orders Index declined 1.7
percentage points to 61.9 percent, and the Inventories Index slipped 0.2
percentage point to 56.8 percent. On the price front, the Prices Index went
down 3.3 percentage points to 82.4 percent.
Commenting
on the November data, Timothy R. Fiore, Chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business
Survey Committee, noted that the U.S. manufacturing sector remained in “a
demand-driven, supply chain-constrained environment”, and added that there were
some signs of “slight labor and supplier delivery improvement”. He also said
that the past relationship between the Manufacturing PMI and the overall
economy indicated that the Manufacturing PMI for November corresponded to a
5.1-percent advance in real GDP on an annualized basis.