The Institute for Supply Management's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) registered 54.2 percent in February, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from January's reading of 53.1 percent, indicating expansion in manufacturing for the third consecutive month.
February's reading reflects the highest PMI since June 2011, when the index registered 55.8 percent. The new orders index registered 57.8 percent, an increase of 4.5 percent over January's reading of 53.3 percent, indicating growth in new orders for the second consecutive month. As was the case in January, all five of the PMI's component indexes - new orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries and inventories - registered in positive territory in February. In addition, the backlog of orders, exports and imports indexes all grew in February relative to January.
Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 15 reported growth in February, including fabricated metal products, primary metals and transportation equipment.