The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business climbed to 47.1 in June from 46.6 in June, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Friday.
New orders received grew to 46.1 from 45.0, production increased to 44.9 from 44.2, employment slipped to 45.7 from 52.7, supplier deliveries fell to 48.9 from 50.3, and backlog of orders grew to 42.9 from 36.7.
Inventory levels improved to 50.0 from 40.6, customers' inventories held at 50.0, prices gained to 39.3 from 37.5, exports fell to 35.0 from 42.3 and imports decreased to 44.4 from 50.0.
The blue collar diffusion index slipped to 52.8 from 58.8, while the white collar diffusion index slumped to 45.7 from 62.8.
