The January 2013 PMI composite shows a modest expansion, with all of its component indices showing positive gains for January.
“The PMI™ registered 53.1 percent, an increase of 2.9 percentage points from December’s seasonally adjusted reading of 50.2 percent, indicating expansion in manufacturing for the second consecutive month. The New Orders Index registered 53.3 percent, an increase of 3.6 percent over December’s seasonally adjusted reading of 49.7 percent, indicating growth in new orders. Manufacturing is starting out the year on a positive note, with all five of the PMI™’s component indexes — new orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries and inventories — registering above 50 percent in January.” January ISM Report
Precision machining is a subsector of Fabricated Metals, which was one of 13 sectors reporting growth in January in the following order: Plastics & Rubber Products; Textile Mills; Furniture & Related Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Fabricated Metal Products; Transportation Equipment; Petroleum & Coal Products; Machinery; Primary Metals; and Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products.
What does ISM’s PMI have to do with you?
The ISM correlates generally with GDP and Industrial Production over time. for a great discussion of how the ISM fits into the big picture, you might like “Robert Oak’s” take over at “The Economic Populist” blog.
“Robert Oak” is the pen name of “a thinking person like yourself who became fed up with corporate written and special interest driven trade, labor and economic policy and analysis. Many spin with numbers including the financial press. Robert Oak analyzes by first principles and puts accuracy and objectivity first. The numbers don’t lie but people lie with numbers all the time.”