9:45a PMI Manufacturing Index
Index 58.6 actual vs 59.2 prior
Consensus Outlook
February's flash at 58.5 was very strong and very little changed from January's 59.2. No change from the 58.5 flash is expected for February's final.
Definition
Based on monthly questionnaire surveys of selected companies, the Purchasing Managers' Manufacturing Index (PMI) offers an advance indication on month-to-month activity in the private sector economy by tracking changes in variables such as production, new orders, stock levels, employment and prices across manufacturing industries. The final index for the current month is released roughly a week after the flash.
10:00a ISM Manufacturing Index
Index 60.8 actual vs 58.7 prior
Consensus Outlook
Led by new orders and an exceptionally strong build in backlog orders, ISM's manufacturing report has been hinting at the question of overheating. Consensus for February's index is 58.9 versus January's 58.7.
Definition
The manufacturing composite index from the Institute for Supply Management is a diffusion index calculated from five of the eleven sub-components of a monthly survey of purchasing managers at roughly 300 manufacturing firms nationwide. The survey queries purchasing managers about the general direction of production, new orders, order backlogs, their own inventories, customer inventories, employment, supplier deliveries, exports, imports, and prices. The five components of the composite index are new orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries, and inventories (their own, not customer inventories). The five components are equally weighted. The questions are qualitative rather than quantitative; that is, they ask about the general direction rather than the specific level of activity. Each question is adjusted into a diffusion index which is calculated by adding the percentage of positive responses to one-half of the unchanged responses.
10:00a Construction Spending
Month over Month 1.7% actual vs 1.1% (rev) prior
Year over Year 5.8% actual vs 6.1% (rev) prior
Consensus Outlook
Construction spending rose 1.0 percent in December split between another month of strong growth for residential construction and another month of contraction on the nonresidential side. Econoday's consensus for January is a total rise of 0.8 percent.
Definition
The dollar value of new construction activity on residential, non-residential, and public projects. Data are available in nominal and real (inflation-adjusted) dollars.
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