The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM’s) PMI® Index was up 1.5 points to 60.2 in June indicating strong growth in manufacturing (a reading above 50.0 signals expansion). None of the 18 manufacturing sectors surveyed by ISM reported a decrease in activity in June. According to ISM, “The past relationship between the PMI® and the overall economy indicates that the PMI® for June (60.2) corresponds to a 5.2 percent increase in real gross domestic product (GDP) on an annualized basis.” This would be a very strong showing indeed since US GDP annualized growth rate has not topped 5.0% since before 2002. Tariff impacts remain a concern and ISM’s Prices index did indicate increasing raw material costs as it fell 2.7 points to 76.8. See the full report here.
