The market was expecting a value of 55.0 to 56.5 versus the reported value of 52.4. A number below 50 indicates contraction.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers reported the Chicago Business Barometer veered downward, falling 4.4 points to 52.4 in March. After a strong start to the year, the Business Barometer was knocked back by steep declines in New Orders, Production, and another disappointing dip in Order Backlogs. All other Business Activity measures also declined in March, the exception being supplier lead times, which lengthened considerably.
BUSINESS ACTIVITY:
- NEW ORDERS: fell sharply after three months of solid gains;
- PRODUCTION: lowest since Sep 2009;
- ORDER BACKLOGS: ninth month of contraction in the last year;
- INVENTORIES: fourth contraction in the last six months;
- SUPPLIER DELIVERIES: longest in 15 months.
BUYING POLICY:
- CAPITAL EQUIPMENT longest since September 2012;
- MRO SUPPLIES longest since May 2012.
The Chicago ISM is important as it is a window into the national ISM reports which will be issued shortly. When you compare the graph below of the ISM Manufacturing Index against the Chicago PMI (graph above) – there is a general correlation in trends, but not necessarily correlation in values.
source and read the full report: Chicago PMI
