US: PMI shows growth in manufacturing for the seventh consecutive month - ISM

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, says the Institue for Supply Management (ISM) in its latest Manufacturing PMI report.

The report showed growth in new orders, production and employment sub-categories while the supply deliveries slowed and the inventories contracted. The Prices Index registered 70.5 percent in March, an increase of 2.5 percentage points from the February reading of 68 percent, indicating higher raw materials prices for the 13th consecutive month.

• A reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally contracting