Washington (awp / dpa) – Growth in manufacturing activity in the Chicago area picked up again in October, unexpectedly after two months of decline, despite supply difficulties and looming high prices.
The index climbed to 68.4 points in October, against 64.7 points in September, according to the index of purchasing managers of the federation ISM.
This surprised analysts who saw it continue to decline, to 63.1 points.
Activity grows when the index is above 50 points, contracts when it is below. Thus, an index higher than 50 points, but lower compared to the previous month, thus means that the growth of the activity has slowed down.
Growth was driven by order books and employment, but output deteriorated, even reaching its lowest level since August 2020.
“Companies have again reported worsening port congestion and persistent logistical problems with road, rail and even air freight,” said the ISM in its press release.
“Some companies have said that raw material shortages and a low supply of critical components such as semiconductors from suppliers impacted opportunities,” it said.
On the other hand, “prices continued to be a problem”.
Global supply difficulties are causing delays and shortages, which should take months to resolve. Especially since demand is strong from American consumers.
These difficulties drive up prices, a phenomenon accentuated by the shortage of manpower, which pushes many employers to increase wages to find staff.
The high inflation in the United States is temporary and the pressure on energy prices should ease “in the coming months”, however repeated Friday the US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen.
In September, over one year, inflation accelerated again to 4.4%, according to the PCE index released on Friday.
But compared to the previous month, the price increase was stable at 0.3%.
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, however, inflation even slows down over one month (0.2% vs. 0.3%) and is stable over one year (3.6%).
afp / buc
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