According to the ISM November PMI report, the manufacturing industry expanded for the 15th consecutive month and the overall economy grew for the 102nd consecutive month. Once again, the food industry made a strong showing.
Here’s what the ISM reports for food, beverage, and tobacco:
- Growth in new orders
- Growth in production
- Growth in employment
- Slower supplier deliveries
- Lower inventories
- Customer inventories too high
- Increased prices for raw materials
- Growth in order backlogs
- Growth in new export orders
- Decrease in imports
These results are similar to the ones from last month. The only differences are in customer inventories (in October, they were too low), order backlogs (in October, there was no change compared to the previous month), and imports (in October, there was an increase in imports).
The overall PMI for the month did slip slightly, from 58.7% in October to 58.2% in November. However, the current number is still well above the 43.3% threshold over which the economy is considered to be growing. It’s also still near its 12-month high. Over the past year, the PMI has ranged from 54.5% to 60.8%.
The biggest change in November was longer lead times for supplier deliveries. Respondents in the food industry indicated that this is a remnant of Hurricane Harvey.
