Highlights of ISM nonmanufacturing index for May 2020
- ISM nonmanufacturing index for May 2020 45.4 vs. 44.4 estimate.
- The prior report was at 41.8
- Business activity 41.0 vs 26.0 last month
- New orders 41.9 vs 32.9 last month
- Employment 31.8 vs 30.0 last month
- Inventory 48.0 vs 46.9 last month
- price is paid 55.6 vs. 55.1 last month
- backlog of orders 46.4 vs. 47.7 last month
- supplier deliveries 67.0 vs. 78.3 last month
- inventory sentiment 55.1 vs. 62.6 last month
- new export orders 41.5 vs. 36.3 last month
- imports 43.7 vs. 49.3 last month
apart from the supplier deliveries, inventory sentiment and prices paid, the other major components remain below the 50.0 level.
The composite index was below the 50 level for the 2nd consecutive month. The high for the index reached 57.3 in February. The low was the 41.8 reading in April.
The good news is that the business activity index increased to 41.0 from 26.0 last month was the biggest increase in records back to 1997. The new orders a jump from 32.9 to 41.9 was also a step in the positive direction although both measures remain in the contractionary phase below the 50.0 level.
In comparison, the manufacturing composite index came out last week at 43.1. New orders in the manufacturing index stayed depressed at 31.8 (vs 32.9 in April). Employment was at 32.1 vs. 30.0 in the prior month.
