April ISM Factory Index Falls to 53.3

he Institute for Supply Management reported Monday that its factory index slipped to 53.3 in April, down from 55.2 in March.

nalysts had forecast the factory index to fall to 55, Bloomberg said. Higher energy costs may restrain growth in factory demand, Bloomberg said.

The manufacturing sector is one of trucking’s largest and most important customers.

“The trend is definitely toward a slower pace of growth, and that should relieve some of the pricing pressure that the sector has experienced during 2004 and year-to-date in 2005,” said Norbert Ore, chairman of ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

ISM’s new orders index, which accounts for about a third of the total, fell to 53.1 from 57.1 in March. The production index, a gauge of work being performed, rose to 56.7 from 56.5.

The employment index fell to 52.3 from 53.3 in March. The index of inventories fell to 47.9 from 54.1, ISM said.

The backlog of orders index fell to 53 from 56, while new export orders rose to 57.2 from 55.4.

The index of supplier deliveries, which measures how long it takes to get materials, declined to 51.5 from 52.5, ISM said.

ISM surveys more than 400 companies in 20 industries, including transportation, clothing, printing, furniture and plastics.