May U.S. Manufacturing PMI® at 56.1%, up 0.7% from April
New Orders, Production and Backlogs Growing at Faster Rates
Employment Contracting; Supplier Deliveries Slowing at a Slower Rate
Raw Materials Inventories Growing at a Faster Rate; Customers’ Inventories Too Low
Prices Increasing at a Slower Rate; Exports Growing at a Faster Rate; Imports Contracting
Record-Long Lead Times for Capital Expenditures
(Tempe, Arizona) — Economic activity in the manufacturing sector grew in May, with the overall economy achieving a 24th consecutive month of growth, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business®.
The report was issued today by Timothy R. Fiore, CPSM, C.P.M., Chair of the Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee:
“The May Manufacturing PMI® registered 56.1 percent, an increase of 0.7 percentage point from the reading of 55.4 percent in April. This figure indicates expansion in the overall economy for the 24th month in a row after a contraction in April and May 2020. This is the second-lowest Manufacturing PMI® reading since September 2020, when it registered 55.4 percent. The New Orders Index reading of 55.1 percent is 1.6 percentage points higher than the 53.5 percent recorded in April. The Production Index reading of 54.2 percent is a 0.6-percentage point increase compared to April’s figure of 53.6 percent. The Prices Index registered 82.2 percent, down 2.4 percentage points compared to the April figure of 84.6 percent. The Backlog of Orders Index registered 58.7 percent, 2.7 percentage points higher than the April reading of 56 percent. The Employment Index went into contraction territory at 49.6 percent, 1.3 percentage points lower than the 50.9 percent recorded in April. The Supplier Deliveries Index reading of 65.7 percent is 1.5 percentage points lower than the April figure of 67.2 percent. The Inventories Index registered 55.9 percent, 4.3 percentage points higher than the April reading of 51.6 percent. The New Export Orders Index reading of 52.9 percent is up 0.2 percentage point compared to April’s figure of 52.7 percent. The Imports Index fell into contraction territory, decreasing 2.7 percentage points to 48.7 percent from 51.4 percent in April.”
