Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in October for the 17th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 65th consecutive month, according to the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM®Report On Business®, The report was issued this week by Bradley J. Holcomb, chair of the Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, Tempe, Ariz., USA. 

 

"The October PMI® registered 59%, an increase of 2.4 percentage points from September's reading of 56.6%, indicating continued expansion in manufacturing.The New Orders Index registered 65.8%, an increase of 5.8 percentage points from the 60% reading in September, indicating growth in new orders for the 17th consecutive month. 

 

The Production Index registered 64.8%, 0.2 percentage point above the September reading of 64.6%. The Employment Index grew for the 16th consecutive month, registering 55.5%, an increase of 0.9 percentage point above the September reading of 54.6%. Inventories of raw materials registered 52.5%, an increase of 1 percentage point from the September reading of 51.5%, indicating growth in inventories for the third consecutive month. Comments from the panel generally cite positive business conditions, with growth in demand and production volumes.

 

Of the 18 manufacturing industries,16 report growth in October in the following order: plastics and rubber products, textile mills, fabricated metal products, miscellaneous manufacturing, primary metals, electrical equipment/appliances/components, nonmetallic mineral products, food/beverage/tobacco products, chemical products, apparel/leather/allied products, printing and related support activities, transportation equipment, furniture and related products, paper products, machinery, and computer and electronic products. The only industry reporting contraction in October is petroleum and coal products.

 

More information from this report is available online.