ISM Manufacturing Index 3MMA Positive for 27th Consecutive Month

The ISM Manufacturing Index retreated again in December. The Institute of Supply Management released their December report on January 2nd and after the October surprise on the upside, the index slid back once again from 59.0 to 58.7 in November and to 55.5 in December, however this is still equal to the average for the year. The index has exceeded or equaled 60 only 14 times in the 166 months since January 1997 which is as far back as our data goes so the December reading is still strong.

Any number greater than (>) 50 indicates expansion and this was the nineteenth straight month for which this was the case.  The three month moving average (3MMA) declined from 58.1 in November to 57.7 in December, this was the twenty seventh consecutive month of a value >50 in the 3MMA and the December value is still healthy by historical standards, (Figure 1).