TEMPE, AZ – The manufacturing sector grew for the 26th straight month in July as the slowdown in May is looking more like a blip than a trend. New orders and production both saw higher rates of growth, according to the latest Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws) poll.

ISM chairman Norbert Ore said, “It appears that the sector hit a low point in May, and has rebounded nicely in June and July. The prices index apparently reached the end of its run in June, as the July index indicates that pricing power, at least for the short term, is now once again favoring buyers."

For the month the PMI measure of economic activity rose 2.8 points sequentially, to 56.6%. New orders climbed 3.4 points to 60.6%, while production rose 5.6 points to 61.2%.

Backlogs and inventories at manufacturers tightened; customer stock levels upticked 0.5 points. Employment jumped 3.3 points to 52.2 as workers entered the employment ranks than left it.

Electronic components and equipment, and industrial and commercial equipment and computers reported growth during the month.

                      March            April            May            June           July

PMI                   55.2            53.3            51.4            53.8            56.6

New orders         57.1            53.7            51.7            57.2            60.6

Production         56.5            56.7            54.9            55.6            61.2

Inventories          54.1            47.9            47.8            47.8            47.5

Cust. inventories 46.0            41.5            47.5            44.0            44.5

Backlogs            56.0            53.0            51.0            51.0            49.0

Source: Institute for Supply Management