December 2022 ISM® Report On Business®: Manufacturing

The U.S. manufacturing sector contracted in December, as the Manufacturing PMI^® registered 48.4 percent, 0.6 percentage point below the reading of 49 percent recorded in November. This is the second month of contraction and, as predicted, will likely be the norm for the PMI^® at least through the first quarter of 2023, with the PMI^® expected to be between 48 and 52 percent. Of the five subindexes that directly factor into the Manufacturing PMI^®, two (Employment and Inventories) were in growth territory, with both gaining a bit of ground.