Posted on 06/04/2003 7:23:33 AM PDT by Starwind
ISM U.S. non-manufacturing index 54.5 in May
Wednesday June 4, 10:07 am ET
TEMPE, Ariz., June 4 (Reuters) - The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Wednesday said its monthly non-manufacturing index, which measures the services sector of the economy, rose to 54.5 in May from 50.7 in April. A number above 50 indicates growth, while anything below 50 denotes contraction. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a rise to 52.0 in May. Following are the main ISM non-manufacturing index components: . May April March Feb Jan Dec Nov Bus Activity 54.5 50.7 47.9 53.9 54.5 54.2 55.7 New Orders 54.7 50.6 47.7 53.0 56.2 54.6 55.4 Backlog Orders 51.0 46.0 47.5 50.0 48.0 51.5 50.5 New Export Ords 49.0 52.5 48.5 58.5 53.0 54.0 58.5 Inventory Sent 63.0 62.5 66.0 66.5 64.5 63.0 61.0 Imports 58.5 50.0 55.0 51.5 56.5 51.8 55.1 Prices Index 49.6 56.7 62.0 60.9 57.0 55.3 57.5 Employment 48.7 48.2 47.9 49.0 50.3 46.9 46.3 Supplier Delivs 52.0 50.5 52.0 52.5 52.0 52.5 52.5 THE SURVEY: ISM, formerly called the National Association of Purchasing Management, compiles its diffusion index by surveying more than 370 purchasing executives in more than 62 different service industries once a month. The responses reflect the change in the current month compared to the previous month. The non-manufacturing ISM Report is seasonally adjusted for business activity, new orders, imports, and employment. The ISM non-manufacturing survey was launched in July 1997. FULL TEXT: For the text of the Institute for Supply Management's Purchasing Managers Survey. It can be found on the Internet at the following address: http://www.ism.ws/
Non-Manufacturing | Manufacturing | ||||||
Index | May Index % | April Index % | Index Change from April | Direction & Rate of Change | May Index % | April Index % | Index Change from April |
Business Activity / Production | 54.5 | 50.7 | +3.8 | Increasing faster | 51.5 | 47.0 | +4.5 |
New Orders | 54.7 | 50.6 | +4.1 | Increasing faster | 51.9 | 45.2 | +6.7 |
Employment | 48.7 | 48.2 | +0.5 | Decreasing slower | 43.0 | 41.4 | +1.6 |
Supplier Deliveries | 52.0 | 50.5 | +1.5 | Slowing slower | 51.3 | 50.0 | +1.3 |
Inventories | 52.5 | 51.0 | +1.5 | Increasing faster | 46.1 | 42.7 | +3.4 |
Prices | 49.6 | 56.7 | -7.1 | Decreasing from increasing | 51.5 | 63.5 | -12.0 |
Backlog of Orders | 51.0 | 46.0 | +5.0 | Increasing from decreasing | 51.0 | 47.5 | +3.5 |
New Export Orders | 49.0 | 52.5 | -3.5 | Decreasing from increasing | 50.8 | 51.1 | -0.3 |
Imports | 58.5 | 50.0 | +8.5 | Increasing from unchanged | 52.2 | 54.5 | -2.3 |
Inventory Sentiment | 63.0 | 62.5 | +0.5 | Greater feeling of "too high" | N/A | ||
Customers' Inventories | N/A | 45.0 | 44.5 | +0.5 |
Don't know what the democrats think.
As an investor/taxpayer, this report (like the ISM Mfg survey and the Chicago NAPM survey) show a small recent increase in business, but more so falling backlogs, employment, exports, and prices, and rising inventories.
What do you think?
You're right the ISM reported backlogs increased. The NAPM-Chicago mfg backlogs decreased.
Employment increases don't seem likely yet. Thats a longer term commitment employers are loathe to make unless absolutely essential to profits. They'll run lean for a while yet and see if a long-term uptrend solidifies. It's part of why you see deliveries slow down - fewer people meeting the same (or slightly increased production levels).
T'would help.
However, if you look at last Friday's report on U.S. April personal income unchanged it shows a drop in wages and disposable income.
Also, consumer confidence for the near term showed they were tightening their purse strings - confidence increasing only for 6-months out. Conceivably, states will be increasing taxes to solve their budget problems. Not clear how much more spending the consumer will be doing.
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