The overall U.S. manufacturing economy notched a 15th consecutive month of growth in August, according to the Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. New orders were up, as was production. The Prices Index declined 1.5 percentage points to 79.4%, its first reading below 80% since December.
The backlog of orders increased, but employment contracted, and supplier deliveries eased. Both imports and exports grew a bit.
“All segments of the manufacturing economy are impacted by record-long raw-materials lead times, continued shortages of critical basic materials, rising commodities prices and difficulties in transporting products,” said Timothy R. Fiore, chair of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.
“The new surges of COVID-19 are adding to pandemic-related issues — worker absenteeism, short-term shutdowns due to parts shortages, difficulties in filling open positions and overseas supply chain problems — that continue to limit manufacturing-growth potential, he said. However, optimistic panel sentiment remained strong, with eight positive comments for every cautious comment.