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U.S. Manufacturing Index Unexpectedly Indicates Slightly Faster Growth In March

April 01, 2026 — 10:41 am EDT

Written by

RTTNews.com for

RTTNews->

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Institute for Supply Management on Wednesday unexpectedly showed slightly faster growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of March.

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI inched up to 52.7 in March from 52.4 in February, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 52.3.

The unexpected uptick by the headline index came amid faster production growth, as the production index climbed to 55.1 in March from 53.5 in February.

Meanwhile, the report said the new orders index slid to 53.5 in March from 55.8 in February, although the reading above 50 still indicates growth.

The employment index edged down to 48.7 in March from 48.8 in February, remaining in contraction territory for the 30th consecutive month.

On the inflation front, the report said the prices index surged to 78.3 in March from 70.5 in February, reaching its highest level since June 2022.

Susan Spence, Chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, noted this month marks the first report with panelists citing the Iran war as a new impact to their business, along with ongoing uncertainty with U.S. economic policy.

"In March, 64 percent of comments overall were negative," Spence said. "Among the negative comments, about 20 percent cited tariffs and about 40 percent the war in the Middle East."

The ISM is scheduled to release a separate report on U.S. service sector activity in the month of March on Monday, April 6th.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.