Factory input prices, month by month

What the index measures, and why buyers watch it

Every month the Institute for Supply Management asks purchasing managers at U.S. manufacturers whether the prices they pay are higher, lower or the same as the month before. The index is the share reporting higher plus half the share reporting no change, so 50 means no change and anything above it means more factories are paying more. ISM releases it at 10 a.m. Eastern on the first business day of the following month.

It is a reading on breadth, not size: 80 says most buyers are seeing increases, not that prices rose 80%. Its value to a supply chain team is timing. The same pressure tends to reach supplier quotes and producer prices in the months that follow, so a rising reading is the cue to lock terms you can lock and to ask suppliers where their own increases are coming from.

Readings are as SplyLine reported them. ISM publishes the full series in its Report On Business; months SplyLine didn't report are left out rather than filled in.