The ISM Manufacturing Index for July was released early Monday, showing another report in positive territory at 52.7 for the month. Unfortunately, that was in the wrong direction from last month and against expectations. June’s report was 53.5 and Bloomberg had a consensus estimate for July of 53.7.

New orders, production and employment were shown as growing, while inventories were seen as contracting. The ISM also showed that supplier deliveries were faster in July. Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 11 reported growth and five reported contraction in July.

ISM manufacturing data has been holding steady in the low 50s range, which implies very modest growth in a sector that has been dealing with weakness from oil and gas and from the strong dollar hurting exports.

The ISM Manufacturing Index showed the following data:

• The New Orders Index was 56.5%, a gain of 0.5 percentage point from the reading of 56.0% in June.
• The Production Index was 56.0%, 2.0 percentage points above the June reading of 54.0%.
• The Employment Index was 52.7%, 2.8 percentage points below the June reading of 55.5%.
• Inventories of raw materials were 49.5%, a decrease of 3.5 percentage points from the June reading of 53.0%.
• The Prices Index was 44.0%, down a sharp 5.5 percentage points from the June reading of 49.5%.

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