Inland manufacturing keeps growing

Manufacturing in the Inland Empire stayed strong last month.

The region’s purchasing managers index in January was 53.5, one point below December but still an indication of a growing manufacturing sector, according to the Inland Empire Report on Business.

Most important, January was the fourth consecutive month the index was above 50, the dividing line for the health of the manufacturing sector: anything 50 or above means growth, below 50 means decline.

Three consecutive months in either direction is considered a trend, so manufacturing in Riverside and San Bernardino counties is moving in the right direction.

“Purchasing managers continue to be cautiously optimistic about the state of the local economy,” said Barbara Sirotnik, director of the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino, which publishes the monthly index, in a statement.

Thirteen percent of the purchasing managers surveyed said they expect the economy to decline during the next three months, while 64 percent said they believe it will stay the same time. Twenty three percent said they expect the economy to remain the same during that time.

On the negative side, production dropped to 56.5, down from 58.6 in December. New orders also slipped to 54.8, down from 62.1and employment fell to 51.6, down 53.4 month-over-month, according to the index.

Some of those declines were blamed on seasonal factors.