NEW YORK – The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business dipped to 52.78 in March from 58.62 in February, according to the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee.
New orders received fell to 46.78 from 63.10, production dropped to 51.87 from 56.80, employment grew to 59.20 from 53.27, supplier deliveries slid to 54.89 from 59.90, and backlog of orders fell to 41.30 from 50.00.
Inventory levels slumped to 46.15 from 60.00, customers’ inventories dropped to 40.91 from 42.00, prices gained to 80.77 from 74.14, exports decreased to 62.50 from 63.16 and imports slipped to 58.82 from 61.36.
The blue collar diffusion index increased to 57.29 from 51.63, while the white collar diffusion index rose to 59.20 from 51.63.
Respondents’ comments included:
--Currently we are running at capacity. The challenge is to continue to run at this pace while adding new capacity.
--Since last month, there's inflationary pressure on cost drivers relating to chemicals and petroleum based products.
--Stronger demand than expectedsupports increased production.
--Beginning to add back some of the positions cut in '09; and support expanded business.
