Last week, I wrote about the positive regional Fed surveys of the manufacturing sector, and that we had some insight that the ISM data may be better than expected. Well, the August report did not disappoint, coming in at the strongest this year with a reading of 55.4. This is important because it shows that while the housing sector may have cooled somewhat of late (new home sales for instance), the manufacturing sector is picking up some of the slack. Here's the breakdown: And some highlights: "The PMI™ registered 55.7 percent, an increase of 0.3 percentage point from July's reading of 55.4 percent. August's PMI™ reading, the highest of the year, indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector for the third consecutive month. The New Orders Index increased in August by 4.9 percentage points to 63.2 percent, and the Production Index decreased by 2.6 percentage points to 62.4 percent. The Employment Index registered 53.3 percent, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points compared to July's reading of 54.4 percent. The Prices Index registered 54 percent, increasing 5 percentage points from July, indicating that overall raw materials prices increased when compared to last month. " - Nick