According to the Institute for Supply Management’s monthly survey of national manufacturing activity, February’s PMI registered 50.1, down -0.8 points from January, but the second positive reading in a row after five months below 50.0 (a reading below 50.0 indicates contraction). Improved Backlog (50.3 up +4.6 points) and Supplier Delivers (57.3 up +4.4 points) were offset by Production (50.3 down -4.0 points), New Orders (49.8 down -2.2 points), Exports (51.2 down -2.1) and especially Imports (42.6 down -8.7). Nevertheless, 14 of 18 manufacturing sectors reported growth in February. Several survey respondents cited supply chain disruptions and uncertainty related to the Coronavirus as a worry. See the full report here.
