Updated: 01-Oct-24 10:34 ET

September ISM Manufacturing Index

Updated: 01-Oct-24 10:34 ET

Highlights

• The September ISM Manufacturing Index checked in at 47.2% (Briefing.com consensus 47.7%), unchanged from August. The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 50.0%, so the September reading suggests the pace of contraction in the manufacturing sector was the same as the prior month.
• This was the sixth straight month (and 22nd out of 23) that economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted.

Key Factors

• The New Orders Index increased to 46.1% from 44.6%.
• The Prices Index fell to 48.3% from 54.0%. This the first sub-50.0% reading this year.
• The Employment Index fell to 43.9% from 46.0%, and was among the five lowest readings recorded since July 2020.
• The Backlog of Orders Index increased to 44.1% from 43.6%.
• The Supplier Deliveries Index increased to 52.2% from 50.5%.
• The Production Index rose to 49.8% from 44.8%.
• The New Export Orders Index dropped to 45.3% from 48.6%.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report is that it has reinforced the understanding that conditions in the U.S. manufacturing sector are weak, reflected further in the weakening employment index.

Category	SEP	AUG	JUL	JUN	MAY
Total Index	47.2	47.2	46.8	48.5	48.7
Orders	46.1	44.6	47.4	49.3	45.4
Production	49.8	44.8	45.9	48.5	50.2
Employment	43.9	46.0	43.4	49.3	51.1
Deliveries	52.2	50.5	52.6	49.8	48.9
Inventories	43.9	50.3	44.5	45.4	47.9
Export Orders	45.3	48.6	49.0	48.8	50.6
Prices paid (not seas adj)	48.3	54.0	52.9	52.1	57.0