U.S. factory activity hit a 14-month low in December as the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index edged down to 47.9 from 48.2, according to data released Monday. The measure has been below 50, which indicates contraction, for 10 straight months.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that its manufacturing index dropped to 47.9 in December, down from 48.2, marking the sharpest contraction in U.S. manufacturing since 2024. Key components such as production, new orders, and inventories all declined, while prices paid remained unchanged, indicating persistent inflationary pressures.

Manufacturers cited ongoing uncertainty related to tariffs, interest rates, and weak demand as major concerns. Company feedback highlighted depressed business activity, with little expectation of a near-term recovery in the sector.

U.S. manufacturing activity shrank by most since 2024

What do you make of this. The first in a slew of data that we're going to get. We're finally back to data that is reasonably up to date. And unfortunately this is unhappy New Year. This is December. The ISM manufacturing folks reporting that the index falls to 47 9 from 48 2. That is definitely not good news. Prices paid holds at 58 5. So no change on the inflation front. But production falls to 51 from 51 for new orders are about the same 47 7 from 47 4 but still well below 50. And we're looking at things like inventories falling 45 2 from 48 9. So overall this is a disappointing report. Now the one thing that we do want to do and I'm going to have to check my email for the actual numbers from the ISM is you want to look at the what the companies are saying about it because we've seen in the regional numbers that have come out that companies have been saying that we are still facing problems with uncertainty about what's going to happen with the overall economy. And I feel like Mike isn't it fair to say that we always have a certain amount of uncertainty with. I've been doing this job for 26 years now. Yeah. But OK it's worse. And the one mantra that has continued unabated is uncertainty. Yeah. But I mean how often have you lived through periods where you've just got months of no official U.S. data. And we've still got uncertainty going forward because we don't know if the tariffs are going to be ruled legal or not and what happens from here with Venezuela etc. Are you. Here's an easy simple quote from a company in here in the machinery business trough conditions continue depressed business activity some seasonal but largely impacted by customer issues due to interest rates tariffs low oil commodity pricing and limited housing starts. So if that's summing up the way American manufacturers feel it doesn't suggest that we're going to see any kind of major turnaround in the factory sector anytime soon.

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Breakdown