Economy
December 1, 2015
The ISM Manufacturing Index Down Again in November
Written by Peter Wright
The Institute of Supply Management released their November report on December 1st with a value of 48.6 which is the lowest since June 2009. An explanation of the ISM index is given at the end of this piece. After seven straight months of decline the three month moving average (3MMA) of the index had positive growth on a month/month basis in June and July but since then has had four more months of contraction ending up at 49.63 in November.
Any number >50 indicates expansion, therefore, for the first time since August 2012, the 3MMA of this index is signaling contraction. This is only the second time in over six years that the index has not exceeded the positive growth threshold of 50 (Figure 1).
