US manufacturers grow for fourth straight month in April
Updated
Updated · MarketWatch · May 1
US manufacturers grow for fourth straight month in April
14 articles · Updated · MarketWatch · May 1
The ISM manufacturing index held at 52.7%, a four-year high, while new orders hit a three-month high and production rose more slowly.
Employment shrank for a 31st straight month and a prices measure climbed to a nearly four-year high, signalling persistent inflation as the Iran war lifts oil costs.
The recovery has been helped by a Supreme Court ruling voiding original Trump tariffs and an AI boom, but replacement tariffs and energy pressures threaten further gains.
As the Iran conflict squeezes global oil and food supply chains, could manufacturers withstand a prolonged crisis without triggering a recession?
How might new universal tariffs and persistent inflation reshape consumer prices and U.S. competitiveness in the coming years?
With AI transforming factories and a growing skills gap, will U.S. manufacturing jobs ever return to pre-crisis levels—or are we seeing a permanent shift?