According to the latest Institute for Supply Management (ISM) ‘Report on Business,’ the February Manufacturing PMI (purchasing manager’s index) grew by 2.1 percentage points to 60.8 percent from the January reading of 58.7 percent.

As per China Textiles report, the New Orders Index grew by 3.7 percentage points to 64.8 percent from January, while the Production Index grew by 2.5 percentage points to 63.2 percent.

The New Export Orders Index grew by 2.3 percentage points to 57.2 percent while the Imports Index registered 56.1 percent, a drop of 0.7 percentage points. Textile mills, and apparel, leather and allied products were among the 18 manufacturing industries to report growth in February.

Labor-market difficulties at panelists’ companies and their suppliers continued to restrict manufacturing-economy expansion and will remain the primary headwind to production growth until employment levels and factory operations can return to normal across the entire supply chain.