U.S. ISM Index Drops in Feb. 2019 and the Slowdown of Manufacturing May Influence the Fastener Industry

U.S. Institute for Supply Management (ISM) has recently announced the PMI for February 2019, which dropped to 54.2, the lowest record since November 2016. In addition, according to the report of U.S. Department of Commerce, the ratio of U.S. housing starts in February was down nearly 9%, a significant drop from the same period last year. The sales of new vehicles in February also dropped by 2.8% from the same period last year and hit 18-month low. Due to the rather weak economic parameters and declining market demand, it is projected that the future order intake of the fastener industry may not be that optimistic.