Economic activity in the US manufacturing sector expanded in December for the 19th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 67th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business January 6.
Manufacturing expanded in December as the PMI registered 55.5 percent, a decrease of 3.2 percentage points when compared to November’s reading of 58.7 percent, indicating growth in manufacturing for the 19th consecutive month.
The average PMI for 2014 was 55.8. That number is 1.9 percentage points above the average for 2013, while 2013 was 2.1 percentage points above 2012. So looking at the longer term trend, the numbers on the average PMI go up about 2 percentage points per year for the last couple of years.