The September S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI came in at 52.0, up 0.5 from the final August figure. S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI is a diffusion index: A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector; below 50 indicates contraction.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit said:
“With US manufacturers reporting a return to growth of order books for the first time in four months, as well as improved job gains, the September survey brings welcome news that business conditions are starting to improve again. However, even with the latest improvement, the weakness of the data in recent months still point to manufacturing acting as a drag on the economy in the third quarter, and demand will need to revive further if any meaningful positive contribution to GDP is going to be seen in the rest of the year.
“The brightest signs of life are coming from the domestic market, with producers of both consumer goods and, most notably, business equipment reporting improved sales to the home market. Manufacturers across the board are, however, reporting further export losses, linked to weaker economic growth abroad and the dollar’s strength.
“While the strong dollar is curbing exports, a beneficial effect from the greenback’s strength is being seen via lower import costs. With supply chain delays also easing substantially again in September and shipping costs falling, upwards pressure on firms’ costs has moderated sharply, which will feed through to lower goods prices to consumers.” [Press Release]
Here is a snapshot of the series since mid-2012.
Here is an overlay with the equivalent PMI survey conducted by the Institute for Supply Management (see our full article on this series here).
The next chart uses a three-month moving average of the two rather volatile series to facilitate our understanding of the current trend.
Editor’s Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.
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