US Manufacturing Growth Slowing: Markit

Markit's U.S. manufacturing sample, which has been reporting much stronger levels of activity than others, reports slower rates of growth in November. The final index for the month is 52.8 for a 2 tenths improvement from the flash but down a tangible 1.3 points from October.

Softness in new orders, rising at their slowest pace in just over two years, is the chief reason for the dip. Export orders are in contraction, once again the result of weak foreign demand made weaker for U.S. goods by the strength of the dollar. Weakness in new orders is compounded by the first contraction in backlog orders since November last year. With orders down, output moderated in the month and manufacturers cut back inventories of finished goods.

Hiring is slowing and supply deliveries are improving, both indicative of weakness. Price readings remain mute.

Though levels in this report are still pointing to growth, their weakness relative to prior months points perhaps to contraction in November for the factory sector which, however, bounced back in October, at least based on the industrial production and factory order reports.

Recent History Of This Indicator:
Markit's manufacturing PMI finally slowed, slipping nearly 1-1/2 points to a two-year low of 52.6 in the November flash report. New orders showed similar slowing, held down by contraction in export orders. Production in this report, however, has been very strong and, back in October, accurately foreshadowed what turned out to be a jump for manufacturing in the industrial production report.