Highlights

Manufacturing activities slowed for a second consecutive month in April after reaching the fastest pace in February since April 2011. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index from Kingsbury International, Ltd., declined from 62.2 in March to 56.2 in April. The Briefing.com consensus expected the Chicago PMI to fall to 60.0.

Key Factors

The production index fell by its largest amount in nearly a year, dropping from 68.6 in March to 57.1 in April. The drop came on the heels of a second monthly decline in new orders, from 63.3 in March to 57.4 in April. Both indices are still well positioned for future growth and do not show any signs of entering a contraction cycle any time soon.
Surprisingly, even though both orders and production slumped in April, order backlogs increased from 54.3 in March to 56.8. That was the third consecutive monthly increase following a minor contraction in January.
The employment index improved from 56.3 in March to 58.7 in April.

The Chicago PMI has little overall economic value, and is only watched by the financial markets because it is usually released one day in advance of the similar national ISM manufacturing survey. A significant move in this regional survey will therefore sometimes be seen as having predictive value for the ISM index.

Category	APR	MAR	FEB	JAN	DEC
Chicago PMI	56.2	62.2	64.0	60.2	62.2
New Orders	57.4	63.3	69.2	63.6	67.1
Production	57.1	68.6	67.8	63.8	64.9
Employment	58.7	56.3	64.2	54.7	59.2
Prices Paid	68.6	70.1	65.6	62.4	63.8