The rate of liquidation of manufacturers' inventories accelerated in May as the Inventories Index registered 38.7 percent, down from the 39.6 percent reported in April. The Inventories Index has been under 50 percent for 16 consecutive months. There were no reports of higher inventories in the industry sectors. 45.7 Employment NAPM s Manufacturing Employment Index fell below 50 percent in May for the eighth consecutive month. The index registered 35 percent in May compared to 38.1 percent in April, a decrease of 3.1 percentage points.
Food is the only industry indicating growth in employment during the month.
May. With the index at 45.2 percent, this marks the third consecutive month that the index has been below 50 percent after 22 consecutive months of higher prices. The index is 3.7 percentage points lower than April s 48.9 percent. A list of commodities up in price and down in price is available at the end of this report. NAPM's New Export Orders Index for May registered 45.6 percent, 1.7 percentage points lower than April s index of 47.3 percent. The Index has fallen below 50 percent in seven of the last eight months.