Midwest Flop: Chicago PMI Signals Manufacturing Contraction

Business Insider ^ | 09/30/2015 | Akin Oyedele

[SeekAndFind]

Manufacturing activity in the Midwest is back in contraction.

The Chicago purchasing manager's index (PMI) for September was reported at 48.7 by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

This was the fifth time this year that the index fell below 50, the border between expansion and contraction.

Economists had estimated a print of 53.0, down from 54.4 in August.

According to the report, production fell to the lowest level since July 2009, following "downgrades to global economic growth and intense volatility in financial markets."

Overall US manufacturing growth has slowed this year. Other major regional surveys, including those from the New York Fed and the Philadelphia Fed, were weak this month.

In a note to clients, Pantheon Macroeconomics' Ian Shepherdson wrote, "The bigger picture, of a manufacturing sector stressed by the strong dollar, slower growth in emerging markets and the rollover in capex in the oil sector, also is consistent with weak industrial surveys."

Shepherdson noted that manufacturing makes up only 12% of gross domestic product, and so the regional manufacturing surveys should not be given more weight than they are due.

[Starboard]

Guess we need another Recovery Summer. /sarc

[Jack Hydrazine]

These two graphs taken from ZeroHedge's article

Step Aside Detroit: There Is A New "Worst" City For Housing In The U.S.

[Jim from C-Town]

But, But , But they just said that the GDP was growing at 9% just last week. Or was it 4% or 8% or 5%. No matter it is the best ever. All hail Barack!

The entire economy has been in a contraction for the past 3/4 decade. Remove just a small percentage of the Fed Printing and we would crash hard. They are still buying mortgage backed securities to the tune of billions a month.