TEMPE, AZ — Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in August for the 13th consecutive month, says the Institute for Supply Management. The PMI was 56.3%, up 80 basis points.

A reading above 50% indicates the manufacturing economy is generally expanding.

New orders dropped a slight 0.4 percentage points to 53.1%. Production reached 59.9%, up 2.9 points, while inventories rose 1.2 points to 51.4%. Customer inventories went up 4.5 percentage points to 43.5%, and backlogs fell to 51.5%, down 3 points.

“Manufacturing activity continued at a very positive rate in August as the PMI rose slightly when compared to July. In terms of month-over-month improvement, the production and employment indexes experienced the greatest gains, while new orders continued to grow, but at a slightly slower rate. August represents the 13th consecutive month of growth in US manufacturing," said ISM spokesperson Norbert J. Ore.

The overall economy grew for the 16th consecutive month, according to ISM.