The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business rose to 63.2 in September from 59.6 in August, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Tuesday.
New orders received rose to 75.0 from 67.8, production jumped to 68.2 from 59.3, employment decreased to 56.8 from 60.4, supplier deliveries dipped to 61.4 from 62.9, and backlog of orders fell to 59.1 from 63.0.
Inventory levels grew to 54.6 from 47.7, customers' inventories rebounded to 40.0 from 28.6, prices slid to 65.9 from 67.4, exports grew to 60.0 from 56.3 and imports rose to 61.8 from 59.4.
The blue collar diffusion index slumped to 56.2 from 60.4, while the white collar diffusion index crept to 54.0 from 53.7.
