US manufacturing sector contracts for 5th straight month

Index at lowest level since May 2020, says ISM official

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) – The US manufacturing sector contracted in March for the fifth consecutive month, according to a report by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Monday.

The ISM manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 46.3% last month, 1.4 percentage points lower than the 47.7% recorded in February.

While a reading above 50 indicates growth, below that shows contraction.

The market expectation for the index, based on replies from purchasing and supply executives in more than 400 industrial firms, was to come in at 47.5% in March.

"The Manufacturing PMI is at its lowest level since May 2020, when it registered 43.5 percent," said Timothy Fiore, the chair of ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

The new orders index remained in contraction territory at 44.3% in March -- 2.7 percentage points lower than 47% recorded in February.

The production index, on the other hand, rose to 47.8%, which is a 0.5-percentage point increase compared to February’s figure of 47.3%.

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