March 2017 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business Shows Manufacturing, New Orders, and Production Growing for 7th Consecutive Month

The Manufacturing ISM Report On Business is published monthly by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), the largest supply management organization in the world, as well as one of the most respected.  Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in March, and the overall economy grew for the 94th consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business.

Manufacturing expanded in March as the PMI registered 57.2 percent, a decrease of 0.5 percentage point from the February reading of 57.7 percent, indicating growth in manufacturing for the seventh consecutive month.

ISM's New Orders Index registered 64.5 percent in March, which is a decrease of 0.6 percentage point when compared to the 65.1 percent reported for February, indicating growth in new orders for the seventh consecutive month.

ISM's Production Index registered 57.6 percent in March, which is a decrease of 5.3 percentage points when compared to the 62.9 percent reported for February, indicating growth in production for the seventh consecutive month.

ISM's Employment Index registered 58.9 percent in March, an increase of 4.7 percentage points when compared to the February reading of 54.2 percent, indicating growth in employment in March for the sixth consecutive month.

The delivery performance of suppliers to manufacturing organizations was slower in March, as the Supplier Deliveries Index registered 55.9 percent, which is 1.1 percentage points higher than the 54.8 percent reported for February.

The Inventories Index registered 49 percent in March, which is a decrease of 2.5 percentage points when compared to the 51.5 percent reported for February, indicating raw materials inventories are contracting in March.

ISM's Backlog of Orders Index registered 57.5 percent in March, an increase of 0.5 percentage point from the 57 percent reported for February, indicating growth in order backlogs for the second consecutive month.  Of the 89 percent of respondents who reported their backlog of orders, 27 percent reported greater backlogs, 12 percent reported smaller backlogs, and 61 percent reported no change from February.

Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 17 reported growth in March in the following order: Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Printing & Related Support Activities; Furniture & Related Products; Textile Mills; Machinery; Primary Metals; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Wood Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Paper Products; Transportation Equipment; Chemical Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Fabricated Metal Products; and Petroleum & Coal Products.  No industry reported contraction in March compared to February.

Keywords: Automation, Manufacturing, Process Industries, Discrete Industries, Supply Management, PMI, ISM, ARC Advisory Group.