US economy posts 17th consecutive month of growth in Oct: ISM

The report shows new orders, production, employment, backlog, manufacturing inventories and exports are growing; imports are contracting; supplier deliveries are slowing at a faster rate; customers' inventories are too low; and prices are rising.

"The October Manufacturing PMI [purchasing manager’s index] registered 60.8 per cent, a decrease of 0.3 percentage point from the September reading of 61.1 per cent. This figure indicates expansion in the overall economy for the 17th month in a row after a contraction in April 2020,” an ISM press release said quoting the report.

“The new orders index registered 59.8 per cent, down 6.9 percentage points compared to the September reading of 66.7 per cent. The production index registered 59.3 per cent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point compared to the September reading of 59.4 per cent. The prices index registered 85.7 per cent, up 4.5 percentage points compared to the September figure of 81.2 per cent,” it said.

“The backlog of orders index registered 63.6 per cent, 1.2 percentage points lower than the September reading of 64.8 per cent. The employment index registered 52 per cent, 1.8 percentage points higher compared to the September reading of 50.2 per cent. The supplier deliveries index registered 75.6 per cent, up 2.2 percentage points from the September figure of 73.4 per cent,” it said.

The inventories index registered 57 per cent, 1.4 percentage points higher than the September reading of 55.6 per cent. The new export orders Index registered 54.6 per cent, an increase of 1.2 percentage points compared to the September reading of 53.4 per cent. The imports index registered 49.1 per cent, a 5.8-percentage point decrease from the September reading of 54.9 per cent," the report added.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)