Manufacturing index lowest in seven years
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 11/1/2008
September could be remembered as the beginning of months of bad news in the manufacturing sector, after the PMI hit its lowest level in nearly seven years—43.5%.
Issues in the financial sector, the cyclical end to a major global economic growth period and natural disasters all pushed the index to its lowest level since October 2001.
The trend downward has been showing up in new orders, a leading indicator, for several months. September's new orders index came in at 38.3%, down 9.5 percentage points from August, the tenth consecutive month of contraction.
| New orders index | PMI | |
| Jun-08 | 49.60% | 50.20% |
| Jul-08 | 45.00% | 50% |
| Aug-08 | 48.30% | 49.90% |
| Sep-08 | 38.80% | 43.50% |
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