The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business increased to 53.3 in March from 50.3 in February, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Tuesday.
New orders received soared to 54.4 from 41.7, production climbed to 52.7 from 45.5, employment dropped to 46.1 from 58.1, supplier deliveries grew to 60.0 from 59.2, and backlog of orders rose to 50.0 from 38.2.
Inventory levels rose to 52.9 from 47.1, customers' inventories slumped to 46.9 from 61.8, prices dropped to 32.4 from 38.2, exports fell to 45.8 from 53.9 and imports increased to 54.6 from 43.3.
The blue collar diffusion index gained to 51.9 from 46.5, while the white collar diffusion index slid to 46.1 from 58.1.
