IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
The Inland Empire’s manufacturing sector took a step backward in April.
After three consecutive months that indicated growth, the region’s purchasing managers index fell to 46.9 last month, down from 59.2 in March, the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino reported recently.
March’s index was three points below 50, the benchmark that determines if manufacturing is expanding or contracting. Three consecutive months in either direction establishes a trend.
“Clearly the manufacturing sector is still struggling and volatile, with an overall downward trend,” the report states.
However, one bad month is no reason to panic, said Barbara Sirotnik, the institute’s director of applied research and a co-author of the report.
“I’m not that concerned about one month’s PMI figures,” Sirotnik said in an e-mail. “It could be an aberration or a correction from last month. I’m more concerned about the overall downward trend, both in the Inland Empire and nationwide PMI figures.
“I’m also concerned that new orders have been down, and that our panelists have commented on the lack of inquiries and new orders.”
New orders did take a significant drop, from 65.4 in March to 42.3 in April, while production went from 65.4 to 50.
Only four percent of the purchasing managers surveyed said they expect the local economy to improve during the next three months. The remaining 96 percent split evenly – 48 percent each – whether they believe the Inland economy will stay the same or get worse during that time.
