US Manufacturing PMI Jumps 3.9 Percent

The ISM® Report On Business® for U.S. manufacturing in March showed a big gain with a PMI reading of 64.7 percent, an increase of 3.9 percentage points from the February reading of 60.8 percent.  “Manufacturing performed well for the 10th straight month, with demand, consumption and inputs registering strong growth compared to February,” says Timothy R. Fiore, ISM® Manufacturing Business Survey Committee Chair. “Labor-market difficulties at panelists’ companies and their suppliers persist. End-user lead times (for refilling customers’ inventories) are extending due to very high demand and output restrictions as supply chains continue to recover from COVID-19 impacts.”