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Employment On Upswing, Survey Indicates By BOB SECHLER Associated Press
September 04, 2003
AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin economy finished August with its strongest monthly performance in nearly two years, according to a new survey.
The Austin area Purchasing Manager's Index - a local version of the Institute for Supply Management's closely watched national surveys - registered 64.6 in August, its best showing since December 2001.
A reading above 50 is considered an indication that the economy is expanding, while a reading below that level is an indication it's contracting.
The Austin economy "is beginning to possibly look a lot better than it has been over the last couple years," said Arturo Zavala, a board member of the Austin chapter of the National Association of Purchasing Management. "We had a fairly decent second quarter, and now going into the third quarter, it looks like it's going up."
The local index has spent most of the year below 50, but it jumped to 63.2 in July and has averaged 59.2 over the last three months.
Nationally, the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index came in at 54.7 in August, up from 51.8 in July. The ISM's nonmanufacturing index registered 65.1 in August, identical to its July showing.
The Austin survey is modeled after the ISM's national surveys, although the Austin organization combines manufacturing and nonmanufacturing activity.
Highlights from the local survey include an apparent uptick in Austin-area employment for the first time this year. The August employment index - a component of the overall index - came in at 61, the first time it's been above 50 in 2003.
But new orders dropped slightly in August, according to the survey, as did production and prices. Zavala downplayed those declines, pointing out that most of the readings had climbed in July and still appear solid.
"Production is healthy, new orders are healthy, and employment looks like it's turning around," he said.
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