The U.S. manufacturing sector saw an increase in activity for the eighth consecutive month in August despite concerns about pricing volatility and increasing lead times, according to the Institute for Supply Management.
The ISM said Tuesday that the manufacturing PMI came in at 54.6% last month, which reflects continued expansion in that sector but also represented a drop from July’s 55.6% PMI.
The indexes for new orders, production, employment also expanded but were down from July levels, while prices increased at the same level as the previous month.
“In August, U.S. manufacturing activity remained in expansion territory, though it has lost ground in a number of key measures — namely, the new orders, backlog and imports indexes,” ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee Chair Susan Spence said in a statement. “Of the five subindexes that make up the PMI, the only one that grew faster than last month was supplier deliveries … indicating a continuing slowdown of the supply chain.”
Negative comments from the supply executives participating in the report, meanwhile, outweighed positive ones; their concerns included pricing volatility, increasing lead times, tariffs and the war in Iran.
Just two of the 17 manufacturing categories tracked in the report showed contraction last month: chemical products and wood products. One respondent from a chemical company characterized the economy as “annoying” and “getting in the way of otherwise good business.”
Other comments included a primary metals company that said demand “seems to be in a seesaw,” and an electronics industry respondent contending that the electronics supply chain is “going through another crisis even bigger and more complicated than during and post-COVID-19.”
