Customers' Inventories*

The ISM Customers' Inventories Index registered 50 percent in November, 6.5 percentage points higher than in October when the index registered 43.5 percent. This month's reading, at 50 percent, indicates that respondents believe their customers' inventories are unchanged from last month, and also represents the first month that the Customers' Inventories Index has not registered below 50 percent since March 2009, when customers' inventories was at 54 percent.

The six manufacturing industries reporting customers' inventories as being too high during November — listed in order — are: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Primary Metals; Chemical Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; and Machinery. The eight industries reporting customers' inventories as too low during November — listed in order — are: Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Transportation Equipment; Computer & Electronic Products; Paper Products; and Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components.