US Factory Activity Expands for 2nd Month: ISM in World Economy News 02/03/2026 The ISM Manufacturing PMI slipped to 52.4 in February 2026 from 52.6 in January, but remained above market expectations of 51.8. The reading signaled a second consecutive month of expansion in the manufacturing sector, albeit at a slightly slower pace. A smaller increase was recorded for new orders (55.8 vs 57.1) and production (53.5 vs 55.9) while employment (48.8 vs 48.1) and inventories (48.8 vs 47.6) remained in contraction. At the same time, price pressures intensified, with the subindex hitting the highest since June 2022 (70.5 vs 59), driven by increases in steel and aluminum as well as tariffs applied to many imported goods. Supplier deliveries (55.1 vs 54.4) indicated a further slowing for the third month in a row. “Of the six largest manufacturing industries, four (Chemical Products; Machinery; Transportation Equipment; and Computer & Electronic Products) expanded in February”, Susan Spence, Chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee said. Source: Trading Economics 2026-03-02 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share