That's the word in the Institute for Supply Management's February Report on Business.
The report was issued today by Norbert J. Ore, C.P.M., chair of the Institute for Supply Management™ Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. "February was another good month in the manufacturing sector. While the overall rate of growth is slowing, the overall picture is improving as price increases and shortages are becoming less of a problem. Exports and imports remain strong. The recent trend of inventory growth reversed direction during February; this reduces possible concerns about involuntary inventory build. Customers' inventories declined slightly, reinforcing the probability that inventories are not yet a concern."
The report was apparently a little softer than some expected, but the markets didn't seem particularly bothered. From Reuters (via ABC News):
While the ISM report wasn't particularly strong, analysts said the data did not alter market perceptions that the U.S. economy is growing at a steady pace.
"On balance, (the ISM) was not a big negative. Tone suggests economic activity is above trend but the pace of growth is not accelerating," said Peter Frank, senior currency strategist at ABN AMRO.
And this is an interesting take:
Traders said markets are more focused on U.S. economic data, which bodes well for the dollar, particularly after strong inflation and manufacturing data on Monday fueled expectations of higher U.S. interest rates. Higher interest rates tend to generally enhance the attraction of short-term dollar-denominated assets.
As I noted in this earlier post today, that would not seem to bode well for the prospects of this story changing soon.