ISM Report Points to a Deepening Recession

Here’s something of a newsflash for you: The economy is rapidly slowing down.

Of course, it only took the government about a year to figure out that the recession had started, but I guess by government standards that’s not too bad. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research today it’s official—the recession started in December 2007.

Gee thanks.

Meanwhile, the data out of the Institute for Supply Management today also showed that the end of the contraction was nowhere in sight. American manufacturing slipped again in November at the steepest rate in 26 years.

Here are the details within the report:

From the Institute for Supply Management entitled: November 2008 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business®

“Economic activity in the manufacturing sector failed to grow in November for the fourth consecutive month, and the overall economy contracted for the second consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business^®.

When comparing November to October, the PMI indicates a continuing rapid rate of contraction in manufacturing. New orders have contracted for 12 consecutive months, and are at the lowest level since June 1980 when the index registered 24.2 percent. Order backlogs have fallen to the lowest level since ISM began tracking the Backlog of Orders Index in January 1993. The Prices Index at 25.5 percent indicates that commodity prices continue to decline at a rapid rate. This is the lowest reading for the index since May 1949 when it registered 20.1 percent.”

Here’s the snap-shot from the report in the below.

Another day….another ugly report.