Manufacturing orders gaining

Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture, June, 2009

TEMPE, AZ -- US manufacturing activity slipped in April for the 15th consecutive month, but the rate of new orders jumped six points to its highest level since September, according to the latest poll of the nation's executives.

After six consecutive months below the 40% mark, the PMI index of manufacturing activity jumped nearly four points to 40.1%. A PMI over 41.2%, over time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy, said the Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws), which tracks the data.

The new orders index hit 47.2%, with the computer and electronic products segment reporting growth. The Customer Inventoties Index fell, a sign stocks are being cut. The pricing index fell as well, meaning manufacturers are paying less for goods and services.

The overall economy contracted for the seventh consecutive month.

                        DEC.    JAN.    FEB.    MAR.    APR.

PMI                     32.9    35.6    35.8    36.3    40.1
New orders              23.1    33.2    33.1    41.2    47.2
Production              26.3    32.1    36.3    36.4    40.4
Inventories             39.6    37.5    37.0    32.2    33.6
Customer inventories    57.0    55.5    51.0    54.0    49.5
Backlogs                23.0    29.5    31.0    35.5    40.5

Source: Institute for Supply Management, May 1, 2009

METALS INDEX

DATE          5/6/08    2/2/09    3/2/09    4/6/09    5/4/09

Gold (1)      $880.00   $918.25   $922.70   $876.30   $910.00
Silver (2)    $248.71   $183.75   $188.29   $187.74   $182.58
Copper (3)      $3.93     $1.43     $1.51     $1.87     $2.04
Tin (4)        $10.99     $4.81     $5.01     $4.99     $5.80

(1) 2nd London Fix price/tr.oz. (2) Handy and Harman Silver
(COMER Silver) price/LB. (3) LME Cash Seller and Settlement for
Copper price/LB. (4) LME Cash Seller and Settlement for Tin

price/LB.