Updated: 01-May-26 10:21 ET

April ISM Manufacturing Index

Updated: 01-May-26 10:21 ET

Highlights

• The ISM Manufacturing Index checked in at 52.7% for April (Briefing.com consensus: 53.1%), unchanged from March.
• The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 50.0%, so the April figure suggests the rate of change in manufacturing activity in April was the same as in March.

Key Factors

• The New Orders Index increased to 54.1% from 53.5%.
• The Production Index slipped to 53.4% from 55.1%.
• The Prices Index jumped to 84.6% from 78.3%, hitting its highest level since April 2022.
• The Employment Index fell to 46.4% from 48.7%.
• The Backlog of Orders Index dropped to 51.4% from 54.4%.
• The Supplier Deliveries Index increased to 60.6% from 58.9%.
• The New Export Orders Index slipped to 47.9% from 49.9%.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report is that it had some stagflation aspects for the manufacturing sector, namely low growth, a further contraction in employment, and a stark increase in the prices index, which has risen 25.6 percentage points in the last three months.

Category	APR	MAR	FEB	JAN	DEC
Total Index	52.7	52.7	52.4	52.6	47.9
Orders	54.1	53.5	55.8	57.1	47.4
Production	53.4	55.1	53.5	55.9	50.7
Employment	46.4	48.7	48.8	48.1	44.8
Deliveries	60.6	58.9	55.1	54.4	50.8
Inventories	49.0	40.1	48.8	47.6	45.7
Export Orders	47.9	49.9	50.3	50.2	46.8
Prices paid (not seas adj)	84.6	78.3	70.5	59.0	58.5