<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>The ISM Manufacturing Index declined by -1.1% to 59.5% in July, yet it remains at one of the highest levels of the past 30 years.&nbsp; Broad strength in the index was evidenced by 17 of the 18 manufacturing industries reporting growth last month.&nbsp; However, supply/demand imbalances have persisted and pushed the Customer Inventories component to the lowest level on record – indicating that pricing pressures will likely remain high as companies continue to scramble to refill their depleted inventories.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:image {"align":"center","id":9780,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} -->
<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img src="https://ns2020-investech.investech.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ism-mfg-customer-inventories-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-9780"/></figure></div>
<!-- /wp:image -->