US manufacturing growth gains pace in May

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US manufacturing growth gained pace in May, according to a report Wednesday by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

The ISM manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) increased to 56.1%. The market expectation was for it to come in at 54.5%.

The index gained 0.7 percentage points from the April figure of 55.4% when it plummeted to its lowest level since September 2020.

While a reading above 50 indicates growth, below that shows contraction.

"The US manufacturing sector remains in a demand-driven, supply chain-constrained environment," Timothy Fiore, chair of the Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said in a statement. "May was a second straight month of slight easing of prices expansion, but instability in global energy markets continues.”

The production index rose to 54.2%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the April reading of 53.6%, according to the ISM.

The new orders index increased to 55.1%, up 1.6 percentage points from 53.5%.

The employment index, however, was in contraction territory at 49.6% -- 1.3 percentage points lower than the 50.9% in April.