WASHINGTON, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The expansion of U.S. manufacturing activities decelerated in April, data released Monday by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed.
According to the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business, the April purchasing managers' index (PMI), which gauges the performance of the manufacturing sector, registered 52.8 percent, a decrease of 2.5 percentage points from the March reading of 55.3 percent.
The PMI growth figure in April was the lowest since October 2016, when the index registered 51.7 percent.
The expansion in the manufacturing sector, which is often signaled by a PMI reading above 50 percent, "indicates growth in manufacturing for the 32nd consecutive month," said Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM's Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.
Among all the 11 indicators tracked by the IMS, eight illustrated a decrease in growth rates month-on-month, with the sharpest decline occurring in the new orders index, which decreased 5.7 percentage points to 51.7 percent.
"Customer demand expansion softened compared to March, with four of the top six industry sectors expanding," said Fiore, adding that the new orders index "recorded its lowest level of expansion since December 2018."
Furthermore, the production index was down 3.5 percentage points to 52.3 percent, the employment index dropped 5.1 percentage points to 52.4 percent, and the prices index dipped 4.3 percentage points to 50.0 percent, according to the report.
The biggest increase occurred in the backlog of orders index, rising 3.5 percentage points to 53.9 percent and trailed by the inventories index, which was up 1.1 percentage points to 52.9 percent, the data showed. The supplier deliveries index also recorded a slight 0.4-percent increase to 54.6 percent.
The April PMI figure corresponded to a 2.9-percent increase in real gross domestic product on an annualized basis, the report added.
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