Manufacturing activity in Puerto Rico expanded for a fourth consecutive month, according to the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for August. The PMI, one of the main monthly gauges of the island’s industrial sector, stood at 52.9 points, above the 50-point threshold that signals growth over the prior month. The analysis was prepared by the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (IEPR) in collaboration with the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association, and the PMI was published October 1.
Of the five components measured (employment, production, new orders, supplier deliveries and own inventories), four showed expansion. Supplier deliveries grew the most at 60.7 points, followed by production and employment, both at 53.6. Own inventories held at 50.
New orders was the only contracting indicator at 46.4 points, the third time this year it has fallen below 50. Over the first eight months of the year, the index has been above the threshold in six months: January 48.8, February 51.8, March 56.1, April 49.3, May 52.4, June 54.1 and July 54.6. In a complementary survey of manufacturers, the main challenges in the past month were operations (costs 42%, sales 17%, supply chain logistics 17%, raw material shortages 8% and uncertainty 8%); utilities (high energy costs 25% and lack of basic services 8%); and human resources (employment, absenteeism and staff turnover, 8% each).
The PRM-PMI has been at or above the threshold in 122 of the 196 months since the survey was first conducted.