I was hoping this would come in at 51+ and I was wrong. On the positive side it did improve but its still below 50.
02/01 10:01U.S. Purchasers' Manufacturing Index Rose to 49.9 in January
By Carlos Torres
Washington, Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. manufacturing improved in January for the third straight month, a sign factories may soon recover from an 18-month slump.
The manufacturing index of the Institute for Supply Management, formerly known as National Association of Purchasing Management, rose to 49.9 last month from 48.1 in December. The index has been rising since sinking in October to 39.5, the lowest since February 1991. Readings of less than 50 signal contraction, and the index hasn't been higher than that level since July 2000.
Improving sales forecasts at manufacturers such as Texas Instruments Inc. are a sign the economy may be rebounding from its first recession in a decade. Monaco Coach Corp. is among producers whose order backlogs are rising as demand picks up.
``Businesses and households are all starting to feel comfortable about the future, and that is leading to gains in orders and production,'' said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania, before the report.
Economists had expected a factory index of 50, based on the median of 54 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey.
Manufacturing jobs continue to fall as producers try to trim costs. Factories cut another 89,000 workers last month bringing total manufacturing job losses to more than 1.6 million since August 2000, data from the Labor Department showed today. |
