The manufacturing economy grew in April and the overall economy showed an 11th consecutive month of growth, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s monthly Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The April PMI of 60.7% was four percentage points lower than the March reading of 64.7% but well above the 50% level that indicates a generally expanding economy. A PMI below 50% indicates a generally declining economy. Struggles remain, however. “Recent record-long lead times, wide-scale shortages of critical basic materials, rising commodities prices and difficulties in transporting products are continuing to affect all segments of the manufacturing economy.” “All of the six biggest manufacturing industries — fabricated metal products; chemical products; food, beverage & tobacco products; computer & electronic products; transportation equipment; and petroleum & coal products, in that order — registered moderate to strong growth in April,” said Timothy R. Fiore, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, in a news release.
