WASHINGTON, March 1, 2013 (AFP) - US manufacturing activity expanded in February for the third month in a row, hitting the highest level since 2011, according to the ISM survey of purchasing managers released Friday.
The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing sector index rose to 54.2 from 53.1 in January, boosted by a 4.5 percent surge in new orders.
Manufacturing appeared to be pulling out of a holding pattern in the second half of 2012, when the index hovered around the 50 break-even line between growth and contraction.
The index, based on a nationwide survey of manufacturing purchasing executives, showed across-the-board gains for the second straight month.
The February reading was the highest since June 2011 and unexpectedly strong.
Most analysts estimated the index would fall to 52.4.
Gains were seen in all five sub-indexes: new orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries and inventories.
Of the 18 manufacturing industries surveyed, 15 reported growth, compared with 13 in January.
Executives polled in the survey generally appeared upbeat about demand, although some indicated worry about the government's drastic "sequester" spending cuts that were to begin Friday.
"Overall business is good," said an executive in the food, beverage and tobacco products industry.
A furniture executive said: "Business seems to be on an uptick. The normal seasonal downturn for us has been much shorter and not as severe as in the past four years."
But an executive in computers and electronics pointed to government cuts in defense spending as a problem for his industry, one of the three reporting a contraction in February.
- AFP/ch
US manufacturing rises for 3rd straight month: ISM
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US manufacturing rises for 3rd straight month: ISM
