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Manufacturing PMI® at 50.3%; February 2025 Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business®

New Orders and Backlogs Contracting; Production Growing and Employment Contracting; Supplier Deliveries Slowing; Raw Materials Inventories Contracting; Customers' Inventories Too Low; Prices Increasing; Exports and Imports Growing

TEMPE, Ariz., March 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded for the second month in a row in February after 26 consecutive months of contraction, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business®.

The report was issued today by Timothy R. Fiore, CPSM, C.P.M., Chair of the Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee:

"The Manufacturing PMI® registered 50.3 percent in February, 0.6 percentage point lower compared to the 50.9 percent recorded in January. The overall economy continued in expansion for the 58th month after one month of contraction in April 2020. (A Manufacturing PMI® above 42.3 percent, over a period of time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy.) The New Orders Index dropped back into contraction territory after expanding for three months, registering 48.6 percent, 6.5 percentage points lower than the 55.1 percent recorded in January. The February reading of the Production Index (50.7 percent) is 1.8 percentage points lower than January's figure of 52.5 percent. The index expanded for the second month in a row after eight months in contraction. The Prices Index surged further into expansion (or 'increasing') territory, registering 62.4 percent, up 7.5 percentage points compared to the reading of 54.9 percent in January. The Backlog of Orders Index registered 46.8 percent, up 1.9 percentage points compared to the 44.9 percent recorded in January. The Employment Index registered 47.6 percent, down 2.7 percentage points from January's figure of 50.3 percent.

"The Supplier Deliveries Index indicated further slowing deliveries, registering 54.5 percent, 3.6 percentage points higher than the 50.9 percent recorded in January. (Supplier Deliveries is the only ISM® Report On Business® index that is inversed; a reading of above 50 percent indicates slower deliveries, which is typical as the economy improves and customer demand increases.) The Inventories Index registered 49.9 percent, up 4 percentage points compared to January's reading of 45.9 percent.

"The New Export Orders Index reading of 51.4 percent is 1 percentage point lower than the reading of 52.4 percent registered in January. The Imports Index continued in expansion in February, registering 52.6 percent, 1.5 percentage points higher than January's reading of 51.1 percent."