https://iebusinessdaily.com/ie-manufacturing-down-for-third-straight-month/

Inland Empire manufacturing is officially in decline.

The region’s purchasing managers index in December was 47, the third consecutive month that number has been below 50, according to the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at Cal State San Bernardino.

Three consecutive months above or below 50 establishes a trend, so the manufacturing sector in Riverside and San Bernardino counties is no longer expanding, at least for the time being.

Production fell from 55.6 to 46.3 in the last month of 2022, a steep drop but a predictable one because production falls during the holidays. New orders registered 46.3, not a good overall number but much better than the 37 recorded in November.

Employment remained unchanged month-over-month – 48.1 – and the commodity price index fell from 61.1 in November to 51.9 in December. That was the lowest number in that category since April 2020.

Only four percent of the purchasing managers surveyed said they expect the Inland economy to improve during the next three months, Fifty percent said they expect it to stay the same, and 46 percent said they believe it will weaken during that time, according to the index.