Global manufacturing activity remained in marginal contraction in March, based at least on the global manufacturing PMI. March's 49.6 is just below the 50 expansion/contraction line for the seventh month in row, all of them though very close to breakeven.

New orders contracted in the month though, at 49.5, just barely; output at 50.6 rose slightly for a second month in a row. Other readings include slower and marginal growth in employment and improvement in supplier delivery times.

A big positive in the report is inflation, easing to multi-year lows for both costs (53.7) and selling prices (52.8).

China, the US and the Euro area all posted growth in monthly output but, again, only slightly. Japan, South Korea, the UK and Brazil all saw output contraction. On the plus side, Thailand and India posted the quickest rates of growth.

Manufacturing, considered by the texbooks to be the leading sector for changes in overall economic direction, has not been the driving force for the global economy. Unless Chinese manufacturing begins to accelerate, global manufacturing looks to remain flat.

J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI gives an overview of the global manufacturing sector. It is based on monthly surveys of over 10,000 purchasing executives from 32 of the world’s leading economies, including the U.S., Japan, Germany, France and China which together account for an estimated 89 percent of global manufacturing output. It reflects changes in global output, employment, new orders and prices. The Global Manufacturing PMI is seasonally adjusted at the national level to control for varying seasonal patterns in each country and is produced by J.P. Morgan and Markit Economics in association with ISM and the International Federation of Purchasing and supply Management (IFPSM).

Investors need to keep their fingers on the pulse of the economy because it dictates how various types of investments will perform. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI provides advance insight into the global manufacturing sector, which gives investors a better understanding of business conditions and valuable information about the economic backdrop of global markets. The stock market likes to see healthy economic growth because that generally translates to higher corporate profits. The bond market prefers less rapid growth and is extremely sensitive to whether the economy is growing too quickly and causing potential inflationary pressures. The PMI data are also used by many Central Banks to help make interest rate decisions.

The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI data give a detailed look at the manufacturing sector including the pace of manufacturing growth and the direction of growth for this sector. Since the manufacturing sector is a major source of cyclical variability in the economy, this report has a big influence on the markets. In addition, its sub-indexes provide a picture of output, employment, new orders and prices.