World Factories Boom as Pandemic Recovery Accelerates

Global manufacturing and services continue to recover from the pandemic, but purchasing managers in several developed economies say businesses are still straining to meet deliveries and keep costs down amid shortages.

That’s according to a roundup of Purchasing Managers’ Index data compiled by IHS Markit. Here’s a selection of data worldwide from the latest April reports.

Output at U.S. manufacturers and service providers reached a record high in April despite supply-chain disruptions that continue to hamper goods production. The IHS Markit flash composite index of purchasing managers at manufacturers and service providers increased to 62.2, the highest in data back to 2009, from 59.7 a month earlier. Suppliers’ delivery times for factories fell to the lowest level since the survey started in May 2007.