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Mix-Ansicht- Der US-Einkaufs-Manager-Index fällt den 3. Monat in Folge - jetzt auf 48,3 - Erwin, 01.11.2000, 16:58
Der US-Einkaufs-Manager-Index fällt den 3. Monat in Folge - jetzt auf 48,3
Es könnte der Vorbote einer beginnenden Rezession sein.
11/01 10:17
U.S. NAPM October Manufacturing Index Fell to 48.3 From 49.9
By Siobhan Hughes
Washington, Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. manufacturing contracted in October for the third straight month as production and new orders dropped, an industry survey of executives showed.
The National Association of Purchasing Management's factory index fell to 48.3 last month, the lowest reading since December 1998, from 49.9 in September. A reading below 50 signals a contraction.
The report suggests that six Federal Reserve interest-rate increases designed to cool demand are taking a toll on manufacturing. Factories could slow production even more in coming months.
``It's just started,'' said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics in Pepper Pike, Ohio, before the report. ``Companies are coming to grips with an inventory problem, and that is going to act as a damping force on the economy for about a year.''
NAPM's new orders index dropped to 48 in October from 49.1 in September. The inventories index dropped to 45.4 from 45.9. Part of that was the result of slower sales some automakers. DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's fifth-largest automaker, said last week it was closing seven plants in the U.S. and Canada to cut inventory.
Fewer manufacturers reported higher materials costs. An index of prices paid for raw materials fell to 56.5 in October from 58.1 in September.
Production Gauge Falls
That last time the index showed contraction for a longer period of time was June 1998 through January 1999, when U.S. manufacturing was in the midst of recession brought on by an Asian economic crisis.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had called for an overall reading of 49.5.
The production index, a gauge of current output, fell to 48.4 from 52.1. General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, said it idled two Michigan plants this week to cut the number of unsold cars as sales slow down.
Borg-Warner Inc., the world's largest maker of engine turbochargers, was among companies to report recently that demand has slipped. The Chicago company was hurt by production cuts at Ford Motor Co.
The backlog of orders fell to 41 from 47. Meantime, the employment index dropped to 47.9 from 50.9. Ingersoll-Rand Co., the maker of Bobcat construction equipment, in October announced plans to fire 4,000 workers amid expectations of slower demand for construction and automotive equipment.
Inventories Building
Stockpiles of goods at U.S. businesses increased faster than sales in both July and August, the Commerce Department reported last month. That brought the inventory-to-sales ratio, which measures the time goods sit at businesses, to 1.34 months' worth in August, the highest in 11 months.
The slower sales rate has hurt earnings. DuPont Co., the world's largest chemical company, said its fourth quarter profit would be hurt by a slowing U.S. economy and lower sales in its drug business.
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