- Prior was 47.7
- Prices paid 49.2 vs 51.0 estimate. Last month 51.3
- Employment 46.9 vs. 49.1 last month
- New orders 44.3 vs. 47.0 last month
- Production 47.3 vs 47.3 last month
- Order backlog 43.9 vs. 45.1 last month
- New export orders 47.6 vs. 49.9 last month
- Imports 47.9 versus 49.9 last month
This is the fifth month in row below 50 and lowest since the pandemic. This is no big surprise as freight and rail loads continue to fall as inventories are drawn down and production normalizes after the pandemic.
Comments in the report:
- “Orders and production are fairly flat month over month. Lead times
have stabilized in most areas, so looking at reducing commitments on new
orders, except for a few strategic electronic buys with lead times that
are still too long.” [Computer & Electronic Products] - “Sales a bit down, and budgets being cut with a greater emphasis on savings.” [Chemical Products]
- “Business is doing generally well, with input costs falling in some
areas and rising in others.” [Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products] - “Sales are slowing at an increasing rate, which is allowing us to
burn through back orders at a faster-than-expected pace.”
[Transportation Equipment] - “Lead times are still improving, but prices continue to face
inflationary pressures. Prices of steel and steel products are going up
some. Hydraulic components are still facing extended lead times. We are
increasing inventory levels of imports due to global uncertainty from
the ongoing war in Ukraine and threats from China.” [Machinery] - “Overall, (our) first quarter is going better than planned, with
sales increases of about 7 percent versus a budget of 4.5 percent.
However, sales volume is pulling down our automotive original equipment
manufacturer (OEM) side, which is the majority of our business. We
believe the second quarter will be hard but are holding to our outlook.”
[Fabricated Metal Products] - “Business is still slow overall. Customers have not yet picked up
orders at pre-pandemic levels.” [Apparel, Leather & Allied Products] - “Overall, things feel more stable in the first quarter 2023 than
they did throughout 2021-22. Customer demand is — as expected — growing
well, and the overall supply environment is far better than the previous
two years. This is not to say there are not challenges; there
absolutely are. However, there are fewer issues cropping up each week,
and supply challenges are generally more like the ‘typical’ issues we
experienced before the pandemic. We are closely monitoring the global
banking situation, but no impacts have been experienced or are expected
at this time. Ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China are another
issue to watch.” [Miscellaneous Manufacturing] - “New orders are starting to soften and supplier deliveries are
improving slightly. This is allowing us to reduce (our) backlog and
build a buffer in some categories. The supply chain disruption —
particularly in electronics — is still significant compared to
pre-pandemic conditions.” [Electrical Equipment, Appliances &
Components] - “Overall, business continues to remain strong. We are still
experiencing supply chain issues on several indirect supplies.” [Primary
Metals]
/US dollar
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