The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in April, Manufacturing PMI® registered 46.9%, 0.2 percentage point lower than the 47.1% recorded in April. Regarding the overall economy, this figure indicates a sixth month of contraction after a 30-month period of expansion.
The Employment Index indicated another month of expansion, registering 51.4%, up 1.2 percentage points from April’s reading of 50.2%.
The New Orders Index remained in contraction territory at 42.6%, 3.1 percentage points lower than the figure of 45.7% recorded in April.
The New Export Orders Index reading of 50.0% is 0.2 percentage point higher than April’s figure of 49.8 percent.
The Inventories Index dropped 0.5 percentage point to 45.8%; the April reading was 46.3%.
Read the ISM release.