US manufacturing improves in November as orders rebound

WASHINGTON - US manufacturing contracted at a moderate pace in November, with orders growing for the first time in eight months and factories facing significantly lower prices for inputs.

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The improvement reported by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Dec 2 tracked similar increases in other sentiment surveys, which have risen on hopes of more business-friendly policies from the incoming Trump administration.

Still, manufacturing is not out of the woods yet.

ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee chairman Timothy Fiore noted that "production execution eased in November", consistent with demand sluggishness and weak backlogs, and that suppliers continue to have capacity, with lead times improving but some product shortages reappearing.

"It is worth noting that in the aftermath of the 2016 election, the ISM index rose for four straight months, as business optimism swelled," said Mr Stephen Stanley, chief US economist at Santander US Capital Markets.

"I would not be surprised to see a similar dynamic this time, though in the current case, the underlying fundamentals for the factory sector have been tepid at best for a while."

The ISM said its manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) increased to a five-month high of 48.4 from 46.5 in October - the lowest level since July 2023.