Economy
February 3, 2015
The ISM Manufacturing Index Retreated Again in January
Written by Peter Wright
The Institute of Supply Management released their January report on February 2nd. An explanation of this data set is given at the end of this piece. After the October surprise on the upside, the index slid back once again from 55.1 in December to 53.5 in January. The three month moving average has declined for three straight months and now stands at 55.4, almost exactly the average for the last 13 months. This value is still indicative of an expanding manufacturing sector. Any number >50 indicates expansion and this was the 29th straight month for which the 3MMA indicated growth, (Figure 1).
