ISM-Chicago Business Survey, 2009 May

5/29/2009

CHICAGO BUSINESS BAROMETER™ FELL

The Chicago Purchasing Managers reported the CHICAGO BUSINESS BAROMETER rate of decline stabilized as the May reading fell to equal the six month moving average.

BUSINESS ACTIVITY:

PRICES PAID index decline continued to signal broad deflation;
EMPLOYMENT weakened further;
NEW ORDERS and ORDER BACKLOG indexes contributed further softness;

BUYING POLICY:

Lead-times continued mixed.