NEW YORK – The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Index remained at 56 in February, according to the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee.
New orders gained to 62 from 55, production fell to 62 from 63, backlog increased to 56 from 54, and supplier lead times fell to 35 from 38.
Blue collar employment climbed to 58 from 56, while white collar employment rose to 54 from 53. Inventory levels jumped to 54 from 39, while capital equipment purchases increased to 63 from 60.
While the state is most concerned about stopping the fires, credit rating agencies are monitoring the situation.
"What the market's really trying to figure out is what that Warsh regime is going to mean," said Tom Kozlik of HilltopSecurities. "Folks are really trying to position their mindsets, position their portfolios."
The Wall Street banks targeted in the rate-rigging lawsuit wanted the top court to overturn class certification.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is looking for proposals that leverage public private partnerships to solve traffic bottlenecks through the use of tolled express lanes .
"Investors typically start positioning for heavy summer redemptions in summer, so the market typically performs well enough through the first half of June and we do not believe that this year will be any different," Barclays strategists said.
The state's expectation of a deficit in the coming biennium budget was cited in the outlook revision.
