Economy
March 3, 2015
The ISM Manufacturing Index Retreated Again in February
Written by Peter Wright
The Institute of Supply Management released their February report on March 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 to 55.1 in December to 53.5 in January and to 52.9 in February. The three month moving average has declined for four straight months and now stands at 53.83, which is 1.5 points below the fourteen month average since January last year. The current value is still indicative of an expanding manufacturing sector. Any number >50 indicates expansion and this was the 30th straight month for which the 3MMA indicated growth (Figure 1).
