Chicago PMI Tempers Employment & Growth Hopes

Chicago Purchasing Managers is often used as a leading barometer for overall manufacturing activity in the United States.  If that holds true, some tempering of expectation for the Institute of Supply Management data coming soon from the may be seen here.  The Purchasing Managers index came in at a reading of 60.2 in January versus a reading of 62.5 in December.  Bloomberg had a consensus of 63.0.

• Prices paid was down at 62.4 in January versus 63.8 in December.
• The supplier deliveries component was up at 61.5 versus a reading of 56.5 in December.
• The employment index component was down to 54.7 in January versus 59.2 in December.
• The New Orders component was down to 63.6 for January versus a reading of 67.1 in December.

That is pretty disappointing when you look at it.  The employment component may dampen som of the January unemployment and non-farm payrolls data for January, due this coming Friday.  Bloomberg has a consensus of 135,000 jobs created in January and an official unemployment rate expected at 8.5%.

JON C. OGG