U.S. manufacturing economic activity continued to contract for the fourth consecutive month in February, according to the latest manufacturing ISM report. The manufacturing PMI registered as 47.7%. This is 0.3 percentage points higher than January’s 47.4%.
Food, beverage, and tobacco reported contraction along with 13 other industries. The industry also reported a decrease in production, a decrease in employment, slower supplier deliveries, and low customer inventories. The prices index rose 6.8 percentage points to 51.3% from January’s 44.5%.
One industry respondent remarked, “Expect the first half of 2023 in the U.S. to be slower than the second half. Expect slower orders throughout 2023 for Europe.”
