Empire region’s manufacturing still shaky

Inland Empire manufacturing continued to struggle in September.

The region’s purchasing managers index was 47.3 up slightly from August but still below 50, according to the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino.

Should the October index land below 50, manufacturing in Riverside and San Bernardino counties will officially be contracting. Three straight months either above or below 50 are needed to establish a trend.

Production fell 40 percent in October, to 33.3, the lowest level in two years, and prices were up. On the positive side, new orders were up slightly and the employment index registered 60, which means it’s growing again.

Economic confidence, however, remains low.

Fifty-three-point three percent of the purchasing managers surveyed said they expect the local economy to remain the same during the next three months, while 40 percent expected it to get worse. Only 6.7 percent expect to see a stronger economy during that time, the institute reported.