{"id":146802,"date":"2019-05-01T13:24:18","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T17:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.countingpips.com\/?p=146802"},"modified":"2019-05-01T13:24:18","modified_gmt":"2019-05-01T17:24:18","slug":"us-manufacturing-activity-to-dip-in-april","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/2019\/05\/us-manufacturing-activity-to-dip-in-april\/","title":{"rendered":"US Manufacturing Activity To Dip In April"},"content":{"rendered":"
May 1, 2019<\/div>
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By <\/strong>Orbex<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) will be releasing April\u2019s report for the manufacturing sector today. According to the median poll of economists,\u00a0manufacturing activity is forecast to dip from March\u2019s rebound<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In March, manufacturing activity rose to 55.3. The forecasts for April show that activity could ease to 55.0.\u00a0This marks a 0.3 point decline from the month before<\/strong>. Despite the decline, activity for March is forecast to remain in expansionary mode.<\/p>\n

The data will be closely watched as it marks the first month for the second quarter of the year. In the first three months of the year,\u00a0manufacturing activity grew on average 55.0<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the April data falls in line with the average pace of growth in the sector from the first quarter. But this would be somewhat slower comparing to the fourth quarter of last year.\u00a0In the final three months of 2018, manufacturing activity was averaging around 58.6.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Interestingly though, despite a slower pace of increase, the first quarter GDP rebounded to 3.2%, comparing to a 2.2% increase in the fourth quarter of last year.<\/p>

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The ISM\u2019s manufacturing activity hit a peak of 60.8 in September last year<\/strong>\u00a0and since then it has been easing steadily over the months.<\/p>\n

ISM Manufacturing PMI in March Rebounds<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The manufacturing activity as measured by the Institute of Supply Management recovered in March. Official data showed that manufacturing activity\u00a0rose to 55.3 in March, following a drop to 54.2 in February<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

February\u2019s declines were recorded to be a two-year low in the index.<\/strong>\u00a0The data for March beat estimates of an increase to 54.6 for the period. Manufacturing activity for March saw the\u00a0index for new orders rising 1.9 points to 57.4<\/strong>. The\u00a0production index rose by one point to 55.8<\/strong>. The\u00a0employment index jumped 5.2 points in March to 57.5.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"ISM<\/a>
ISM Manufacturing PMI, March 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The data for March brought some cheer as manufacturing activity was in a moderate decline during the previous months.\u00a0Activity in the sector was\u00a0trending lower since last September<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>As a result, the rebound in March\u2019s activity brought some respite to a sector that was trending lower.<\/p>\n

The report from the March ISM survey showed that\u00a016 out of 18 manufacturing industries reported growth during the month<\/strong>. One of the main takeaways from the March report was that there were\u00a0widespread skilled labor shortages<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Can the ISM PMI Beat Estimates?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There is a small chance that the actual PMI data for April will beat the estimates of 55.0. Various regional indicators show that activity was mixed.<\/p>\n