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Reports Suggest Industrial May Be Leveling Off

Statistics from April and May show continued year-over-year declines but month-to-month improvements.

By John McCloud | Updated on June 10, 2009

TEMPE, AZ-The most recent reports from various sources suggest that at least some parts of the global industrial market are, if not necessarily improving, at least leveling off or weakening at a lesser rate. Some analysts see new statistics for both the manufacturing and freight sectors as a sign the bottom of the current economic cycle may be near.

On the manufacturing front, the US factory index of the Tempe-based Institute for Supply Management rose more than two points to 42.8 in April from 40.1 in March. The figure was half a point higher than economists had forecast, meaning US manufacturing, though still losing ground, shrank at a slower rate than anticipated.

Other ISM indexes were also up from a month earlier, with the production index rising to 46 from 40.4 and the export orders index climbing to 48 from 44. The production index reading was the highest since August. Perhaps most importantly, the new-orders index jumped to 51.1 from 47.2. Readings of less than 50 for all measures show contraction, while readings above 50 show growth.

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