US DATA: Jan Chicago PM Index 60.2 vs 62.2 Dec, with declines in new
orders -3.5 to 63.6, employment -4.5 to 54.7 (lowest since Aug’11),
production -1.1 to 63.8, order backlogs -9 to 48.3. Prices paid -1.4 pts
to 62.4. However, text notes that the readings remain relatively strong
(overall index is over 60 for a third month, and in last 40+ yrs is only
this high 27% of the time). Production Materiel lead times +13.1 days to
42.2, the longest since the series began in 1997 – could indicate
bottlenecks or demand. Comments say production can increase over 2 yrs,
flat input prices are a great start to ’12, and there’s talk of a busy
Q1 but there’s hesitation out there.