US ISM Manufacturing PMI: 2026 Schedule, Dates and What to Expect

The US ISM Manufacturing PMI is a monthly survey of factory purchasing managers published by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), a professional body for supply chain and procurement managers based in Tempe, Arizona. It is one of the first hard signals each month on how American industry is performing, and it lands before the official government data on jobs, inflation and output. The next release is on Tuesday, September 1, 2026 at 10:00 am ET (3:00 pm London), covering activity in August 2026. Full schedule and background: US ISM Manufacturing PMI dates. Every date on this page is available as an ICS download or Google Calendar feed, so each release drops straight into your own diary with a reminder attached.

The headline number is a diffusion index, not a growth rate. A reading above 50 means more manufacturers reported improving conditions than deteriorating ones, so the sector is expanding. Below 50 means contraction. The most recent published reading was 55.6 for July 2026, the seventh consecutive month of expansion and, according to ISM, the strongest since May 2022. A consensus forecast for the August 2026 report has not yet been published; the figure is normally polled by Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones in the final week before release.

2026 and 2027 schedule

ISM publishes the Manufacturing PMI on the first business day of each month at 10:00 am ET. The table below lists every scheduled release currently known. Times shift between EDT and EST with US daylight saving, but the London equivalent stays at 3:00 pm in most months because the UK changes clocks on a different weekend.

Where the first calendar day falls on a weekend or a US public holiday, the release moves to the next business day: that is why the November 2026 report appears on November 2 and the May 2027 report on May 3.

What is the ISM Manufacturing PMI?

PMI stands for Purchasing Managers’ Index. ISM sends a short questionnaire to purchasing and supply executives at roughly 400 industrial companies across 18 manufacturing industries, from chemicals and machinery to food, transport equipment and textiles. Respondents are not asked for numbers. They are asked whether each part of their business, new orders, production, employment, supplier delivery times and inventories, was better, the same or worse than the previous month.

ISM converts those answers into an index. The share reporting improvement is added to half the share reporting no change, so the result sits between 0 and 100 with 50 as the dividing line between growth and contraction. The headline Manufacturing PMI is a weighted composite of five of those sub-indexes, each carrying equal weight. ISM also publishes separate indexes for prices paid, backlog of orders, exports, imports and customers’ inventories, which is why the report is far richer than the single headline number that moves markets.

Two features make the survey unusually useful. First, it is timely: the survey closes in the final days of the reference month and is published on the first business day of the next one, weeks ahead of official statistics on factory orders or industrial production. Second, it is not revised in the way government data is, apart from an annual update to seasonal adjustment factors, so the number you see on release day generally stands.

Manufacturing is only around a tenth of US economic output, so the PMI is not a measure of the whole economy. It matters more than its size suggests because factories sit at the front of the global supply chain: orders for machinery, semiconductors, steel and chemicals turn down before consumer spending does, which is why the series is watched closely in Germany, Japan, South Korea and China as well as in the United States.

How is it calculated and what do the sub-indexes mean?

ISM seasonally adjusts the components that show a regular seasonal pattern, including new orders, production, employment and inventories, using factors reviewed once a year. The Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, chaired by Susan Spence in 2026, oversees the survey and publishes commentary alongside the data, including anonymous quotes from panellists that often explain the numbers better than the numbers do.

The sub-indexes worth reading, in order of market relevance:

• New orders: the closest thing to a leading indicator inside a leading indicator. Orders today become production and hiring in a few months’ time.
• Production: current output. In July 2026 this index rose 6.3 points to 58.5, which ISM described as its highest since November 2021.
• Employment: a rough guide to factory payrolls. ISM notes that a reading above 50.3 is generally consistent with rising manufacturing employment in the Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
• Prices paid: what manufacturers are paying for inputs. This is the inflation signal in the report, and it has run hot through 2026, at 71.1 in July after 73.0 in June.
• Supplier deliveries: rising readings mean slower deliveries, which usually signals either strong demand or supply bottlenecks.

One quirk trips up new readers: 50 is not the growth threshold for the wider economy. ISM’s own guidance is that a Manufacturing PMI above 47.5, sustained over time, is generally consistent with an expanding overall economy. ISM also translates the level into a rough GDP equivalent in its commentary.

What time is it released and where?

The report is published at 10:00 am ET, which is 3:00 pm in London, 4:00 pm in Frankfurt and Paris, 11:00 pm in Tokyo and 7:00 am on the same day in Los Angeles. There is no advance embargoed lock-up for the general public: the release hits the ISM website and newswires simultaneously, and the headline number is usually on trading screens within a second.

The primary source is the ISM Report On Business, published by the Institute for Supply Management. The full text is also distributed through PR Newswire, and the historical series is mirrored by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis on FRED. ISM publishes the Services PMI, a separate and larger survey covering the service sector, on the third business day of each month.

Because the release lands 10:00 am ET, it arrives 90 minutes after the US cash equity open and shortly before the London close, so it frequently moves the FTSE 100 and European bourses in their final trading hour as well as Wall Street.

Recent readings

The series spent most of 2025 below 50, then turned up at the start of 2026. Selected recent readings from the ISM Report On Business:

Source: ISM Report On Business monthly releases. The March 2026 reading is published in the ISM report archive and is not reproduced here. PNC Economics noted that July 2026 marked the seventh consecutive month above 50 following 11 consecutive months at or below 50 through December 2025.

The pattern in 2026 has been an unusual one: activity accelerating while input prices stay elevated. ISM panellists have repeatedly cited tariff-related costs, and analysts including First Trust have pointed to AI-related capital investment, reshoring of production and defence procurement as sources of support for the sector.

How do markets react?

The ISM Manufacturing PMI is a first-tier release for short-term traders. Reactions are driven by the gap between the actual figure and the consensus forecast, not by the level itself. A miss of one point against consensus is meaningful; two points or more usually produces a visible move across asset classes.

• Treasuries and global bonds: a stronger-than-expected PMI, particularly with a high prices paid index, tends to push US yields up as traders reduce the odds of Federal Reserve rate cuts. UK gilt and German bund yields typically follow, because global bond markets take their lead from Treasuries.
• The dollar: firmer data usually lifts the dollar against the euro, the pound and the yen. That mechanically weakens the pound and the euro, which raises the sterling cost of dollar-priced imports such as oil.
• Equities: the reaction is two-sided. Strong data supports cyclical sectors, industrials, materials and energy, but if it also raises rate expectations, long-duration growth stocks can fall on the same number.
• Commodities: copper, oil and freight rates are sensitive to the new orders and production components, since factory demand is physical demand.

The July 2026 report is a useful example of the mechanics. InvestingLive reported the headline at 55.6 against a 54.0 estimate, with production jumping to 58.5 and employment crossing into expansion, a combination that markets read as stronger and broader than expected. Interest rate expectations are usually visible in real time through the CME FedWatch tool, which converts futures prices into implied probabilities for the next Federal Reserve decision.

The Fed does not target the PMI, and no single survey changes policy. What the PMI does is shift the odds. Several consecutive months of readings below 50 with a weak employment index build the case for rate cuts. Sustained readings in the mid-50s with a prices index above 70 build the case for patience.

What It Means for Your Money

The PMI is a survey of factory managers, but it reaches household finances through interest rates and currencies.

Mortgages and loans. US fixed mortgage rates track long-term Treasury yields, so a run of strong PMI readings that pushes yields higher tends to raise the cost of a new 30-year loan. In the UK, fixed-rate mortgage pricing follows swap rates, which are influenced by both Bank of England expectations and global bond moves, so a hot US number can nudge UK fixed rates a little higher even though nothing changed in Britain.

Savings rates. The same logic works in reverse for savers. Data pointing to a slowing industrial economy raises expectations of rate cuts, and banks usually trim fixed-term savings and cash ISA rates before any central bank moves. If you are choosing between a one-year fix and easy access, the direction of rate expectations matters more than today’s headline rate.

Jobs. The employment sub-index is a genuine early warning for factory and logistics jobs, in the US and in the export economies that supply it: German engineering, Japanese and Korean machinery, Chinese electronics, and UK aerospace and pharmaceutical manufacturing. A weak new orders reading often shows up as reduced overtime and hiring freezes months later.

Prices in the shops. The prices paid index is a supply chain cost measure. When it stays high, manufacturers eventually try to pass costs on, which feeds into goods inflation and the prices you see for cars, appliances and building materials.

Pensions and investments. If your pension holds a global tracker fund, the US industrial cycle sits inside it, and PMI-driven moves in yields affect the bond portion of a balanced fund too. This is a reason to watch trends rather than trade single releases; the intraday move is usually gone within days, while the trend in orders shapes returns over years.

Holiday money and imports. Because the PMI moves the dollar, it moves GBP/USD and EUR/USD. A stronger dollar makes US travel and dollar-priced online purchases more expensive for UK and euro area buyers.

Related economic events

• US Jobs Report: non-farm payrolls, usually the first Friday of the month, and the release most likely to override the PMI signal on the labour market.
• US CPI Report: the consumer inflation reading that tests whether the PMI’s prices paid index is reaching the high street.
• US PCE Report: the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
• US GDP Report: the quarterly output figure that the PMI attempts to anticipate.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the next ISM Manufacturing PMI released?

The next release is Tuesday, September 1, 2026 at 10:00 am ET (3:00 pm London), covering August 2026 activity. The following report is scheduled for October 1, 2026.

What time is the ISM Manufacturing PMI published?

Always 10:00 am ET, which is 3:00 pm in London, 4:00 pm in central Europe and 11:00 pm in Tokyo. There is no early access for the public.

How often is it published?

Monthly, on the first business day of the month, with the release moving to the next business day when the first falls on a weekend or US holiday.

Where can I find the official release?

The ISM Report On Business is published on the Institute for Supply Management website, distributed via PR Newswire, and the historical series is available from the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis on FRED.

How does the PMI affect interest rates?

Indirectly. A sustained run of readings below 50, especially with a falling employment index, strengthens the case for Federal Reserve rate cuts, while readings in the mid-50s with a prices index above 70 support keeping rates on hold. No single monthly survey decides policy.