Chicago Manufacturing Beats Expectations

The WSJ Blog details:

U.S. manufacturing activity was stronger than expected in June, with rising orders and easing price pressures, according to the monthly survey of Chicago-area purchasing managers.

The closely-watched Chicago Business Barometer broke three months of slowing growth in June, rising to a seasonally-adjusted 61.1 from 56.6 in May, well above the 53.5 consensus among analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.

Chicago PMI: Index > 50 = Expansion

Another important detail from this months report was the decline in inventories, which infers that manufacturers will need to produce more to meet demand (they met a portion of current demand simply out of inventories), a good sign for future growth.

Source: ISM

Chicago PMI Points to Heating Economy / Input Prices

Bloomberg detailed:

Businesses in the U.S. expanded in January at the fastest pace since July 1988, indicating the world’s largest economy has momentum at the start of the year.

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said today its business barometer rose this month to 68.8 from 66.8 in December. Figures greater than 50 signal expansion, and economists projected the gauge would slip to 64.5, based on the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Source: ISM

Chicago Manufacturing Index Jumps

Barron's details:

The Institute for Supply Management reported its business barometer for Chicago-area manufacturing, the Chicago PMI, rose to a reading of 60.4 in September, seasonally adjusted, from 56.7 in August, surpassing economists’ expectations for the index to remain roughly flat month to month.

The index reading for new orders rose to 61.4 from 55 in September, while inventories inched up to 49.5 from 46.5. Employment in the Chicago area, however, dipped to 53.4 from a prior 55.5.

September must have been a huge jump as the above is a three month rolling average and included the downturn in August. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the National ISM figure.

Source: ISM Chicago