NFTRH Web Log: ISM

PERFORMANCE BY INDUSTRY

Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 16 are reporting growth in April, in the following order: Furniture & Related Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Machinery; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Primary Metals; Paper Products; Transportation Equipment; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Plastics & Rubber Products; Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Chemical Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Computer & Electronic Products; and Petroleum & Coal Products. The only industry reporting contraction in April is Wood Products.

WHAT RESPONDENTS ARE SAYING ...

"We expect our production levels to remain at the current level or increase over the next quarter." (Chemical Products)
"In general, demand remains strong for products, and we [are experiencing] more supply disruptions now than four to five months ago." (Machinery)
"The economy was off to a good start through the first quarter, but the European issues keep coming up as well as the recent disappointing jobs report. It appears that some of the early gains may be temporary." (Fabricated Metal Products)
"Warm weather in Midwest appears to have helped soft drink sales." (Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products)
"Positive increase in volume of sales and orders, and slight uptick in inventories, indicate the overall outlook remains robust through summer at least." (Miscellaneous Manufacturing)
"Sales are slowing." (Computer & Electronic Products)
"Business conditions on a national scale have a very positive outlook for the commercial metals we provide. At this point, we have outperformed each quarter's goal and anticipate a strong finish." (Primary Metals)
"Strong demand [compared to] previous year." (Plastics & Rubber Products)
"Business indicators suggest a stronger stability in overall environment. Production and orders are stable." (Transportation Equipment)
"Business conditions continue to improve." (Furniture & Related Products)

MANUFACTURING AT A GLANCE APRIL 2012
Index	Series Index Apr	Series Index Mar	Percentage Point Change	Direction	Rate of Change	Trend* (Months)
PMI	54.8	53.4	+1.4	Growing	Faster	33
New Orders	58.2	54.5	+3.7	Growing	Faster	36
Production	61.0	58.3	+2.7	Growing	Faster	35
Employment	57.3	56.1	+1.2	Growing	Faster	31
Supplier Deliveries	49.2	48.0	+1.2	Faster	Slower	3
Inventories	48.5	50.0	-1.5	Contracting	From Unchanged	1
Customers' Inventories	45.5	44.5	+1.0	Too Low	Faster	5
Prices	61.0	61.0	0.0	Increasing	Same	4
Backlog of Orders	49.5	52.5	-3.0	Contracting	From Growing	1
Exports	59.0	54.0	+5.0	Growing	Faster	6
Imports	53.5	53.5	0.0	Growing	Same	5

OVERALL ECONOMY				Growing	Faster	35
Manufacturing Sector				Growing	Faster	33