• 
• See all for FXstreet.com
• View Print Version

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Nomura Economist Ellen Zentner notes that presaged by improvement among the regional manufacturing surveys in December, the nationwide ISM manufacturing index increased to a reading of 50.7 compared with 49.5 in November.

She notes that the higher readings for manufacturing activity in December suggest the industry is stabilizing after absorbing the impact from Hurricane Sandy in November, but remains lower compared with early 2012.

In December, she comments that the employment index increased sharply to 52.7 - the highest reading since September - and supports our expectation that manufacturing job growth bounced back in December after falling by 7k in November. The index for new orders has outpaced inventories for four straight months, implying that Inventory levels appear manageable going into the new year, and trade activity expanded in December for the first time since May (indicated by an expansion in both the import and export orders indices).

Looking at the industry breakdown, Zenter sees some mixed results, and out of the 18 surveyed industries, seven reported growth while nine reported contractions. This was supported by comments from survey respondents. She finishes by commenting, "December's ISM level suggests the manufacturing sector is expanding into the new year, but an indicator of future activity, backlog orders, remained in contraction in December for a ninth straight month and suggests growth will remain soft in the months ahead."

Related Forex and Currencies Articles

• 
  Copper plunges more than 2% on weak China factory data, Fed
  5/23/2013 02:26 AM
• 
  Dollar falls more than 2% vs. yen
  5/23/2013 02:26 AM
• 
  Forex - USD/CHF tumbles, U.S. data in focus
  5/23/2013 02:25 AM