The June PMI registered 52.6%, up 9.5% from the May reading of 43.1%. This figure indicates expansion in the overall economy for the second straight month after April’s contraction, which ended a period of 131 consecutive months of growth.

“June signifies manufacturing entering an expected expansion cycle after the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Comments from the panel were positive (1.3 positive comments for every one cautious comment), reversing the cautious trend which began in March. The manufacturing sector is reversing the heavy contraction of April, with the PMI increasing month-over-month at a rate not seen since August 1980, with several other indexes also posting gains not seen in modern times,” says Timothy R. Fiore, chair of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing business survey committee.