January manufacturing data falls mildly but still growing, reports ISM

While sequential growth did not materialize to begin the year, manufacturing activity still remained in growth mode over all in January, according to the January edition of the Manufacturing Report on Business from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

ISM said that economic activity in the manufacturing sector has grown for 20 straight months, while the over all economy has shown growth for 70 months straight.

The PMI, the ISM’s index to measure growth, dipped 1.6 percent to 53.5 (a PMI of 50 or greater represents growth) in January, falling for the third straight month. Even with the most recent decline, the PMI is only 2.3 percent the 12-month average of 55.8. ISM also noted that 14 of the 18 industries it collects data from reported growth in January.

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