US Manufacturing Sinks Deeper into Mire, Sep. 2009 evoked

Tuesday, May 3, 2016
By Paul Martin

by Wolf Richter
WolfStreet.com
May 2, 2016

Markit and ISM add to the gloom.

The decline of US manufacturing in the cacophony of regional and national indices, which started in mid-2014, is a sight to behold. Today we got two national indices for April. Both added more gloom to the scenario.

Of the national manufacturing indices, Markit’s PMI, which is based on surveys of purchasing managers, had been the more positive one – if that’s the right word. But it too has steadily been losing ground since mid-2014, when it hovered around 57 (above 50 = expansion).

In April, the index dropped to 50.8, from 51.5 in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, which as the report put it, “signaled the slowest improvement in overall business conditions” since September 2009.

Output volumes compared to March were “close to stagnation,” with the “weakest rise” since October 2009. But at an annual rate, output actually fell 3% — so an actual decline in output:

Anecdotal evidence suggested that subdued client demand, uncertainty about the economic outlook, and lower energy sector capital spending had all acted as a drag on manufacturing production in April.

The Rest…HERE

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