US Manufacturing Decline Offset by Surge in Services: S&P Global

‘Near-term risks also seem tilted to the downside,’ a business economist says.

Metal-cutting machines at a factory in Cleveland on May 26, 2021. Timothy Aeppel/Reuters

A new S&P Global report finds that the U.S. manufacturing sector registered a sharp decline in March, which was offset by an increase in services activity.

According to the S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)—a monthly survey showing the prevailing economic direction for a number of sectors—manufacturing declined to a lower-than-expected 49.8 this month, down from 52.7 in February.