Chattanooga Times Free Press

Manufactur­ing index declines during April

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A measure of U.S. manufactur­ing activity unexpected­ly dropped in April to the lowest level since 2020 as growth in orders, production and employment softened.

The Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of factory activity fell to 55.4 last month from 57.1, according to data released Monday. Readings above 50 indicate expansion. The figure was weaker than all but one estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists, which had a median projection of 57.6.

The latest data underscore the impact from lingering supply constraint­s, made worse by restrictiv­e COVID-19 measures in China. Measures of both new orders and production dropped to their lowest levels since May 2020, though remained above the threshold that indicates growth.

Seventeen manufactur­ing industries reported growth in April, led by apparel, machinery and plastics.

The supplier deliveries gauge climbed to a five-month high, showing longer lead times as factories remain haunted by transporta­tion bottleneck­s and delays.

“The U.S. manufactur­ing sector remains in a demand-driven, supply chain-constraine­d environmen­t,” Timothy Fiore, chairman of ISM’s Manufactur­ing Business Survey Committee, said in a statement. “In April, progress slowed in solving labor shortage problems at all tiers of the supply chain.”

Average lead times for production materials lengthened in April to a record 100 days. Lead times for capital equipment grew to 173 days, matching the highest in data back to 1987, while for supplies used in maintenanc­e, repairs and operations they rose to 49 days.

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