IE manufacturing drops

Manufacturing in the Inland Empire hit a bump in the road last month.

The region’s purchasing managers index was 48.8 in September, the first time since March that the number fell below 50, according to the monthly Inland Empire Report on Business, which was released Wednesday by the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino.

Fifty and above means the Inland manufacturing sector is growing. Below 50 means it’s contracting, and it takes three consecutive months in either direction to establish a trend.

So while there’s no reason to panic, the region’s manufacturing sector is headed in the wrong direction – at least temporarily – for the first time in six months.

There was some more negative news in the September report: productivity in Riverside and San Bernardino counties fell to 51.5, down from 57.6 in July. That means productivity was still growing, but at a much slower pace than in the middle of summer.

Also, purchasing managers were more pessimistic last month. Thirty one percent said they expect the economy to weaken during the next
three months, compared with 22 percent who felt that way in July.

Only 18 percent said they expect the economy to get stronger, down four percent compared with July, according to the index.