April ISM manufacturing index
- Prior was 55.3
- Lowest since Nov 2016
- Employment 52.4 vs 57.5
- Prices paid 50.0 vs 55.0 exp
- New orders 51.7 vs 57.4 prior
This is a real surprise, especially after the Markit numbers. The new orders number is particularly worrisome.
The issue is that the US-China trade war may be skewing everything. Late last year manufacturers may have ramped up orders and production on worries that supplies would be hit by tariffs. Now they're running down inventories. At the same time, export orders might be softening because of slower global growth.
Or it could be all noise.
