The seasonally adjusted Ivey purchasing managers index continues to show moderate expansion at 56.8 in April, although not quite as firm as 58.2 in March.

The adjusted employment index is lower at 55.8 in April from 60.3 in March and is the slowest since 54.6 in October 2022. The inventories index slips below neutral to 48.6 in April from 54.5 in March. It points to careful inventory management while recession worries are elevated. The deliveries index returned closer to neutral at 51.2 in April from 54.1 in March. It indicates that deliveries are running about right, neither too fast nor too slow. The prices index is down to 59.0 in April from 62.0 in March. It has now slipped for the second month in a row. Improvement in upward price pressures is uneven, but is well below the near-term peak of 86.0 in March 2022.

The unadjusted purchasing managers index is down sharply to 55.6 in April from 65.2 in March. However, the index has signaled expansion for four months in a row.

The unadjusted employment index is down to 57.0 in April from 61.3 in March, but shows hiring remains solid for the third straight month. The inventories index is down to 50.0, a neutral reading after expanding for the prior three months. The deliveries index is down to 52.0 after 54.7 in March and February, close enough to the neutral mark to suggest that deliveries are running at a normal pace. The prices index is at 61.9 in April, down from 64.6 in March. Price pressures are falling, albeit unevenly since the near-term peak of 87.9 in April 2022.

The Ivey purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) measures purchasing activity as indicated by a panel of purchasing managers selected geographically and by sector of activity to match the Canadian economy as a whole. The PMI includes both the public and private sectors and is based on month-end data. Five categories are covered in the survey: purchases, employment, inventories, supplier deliveries and prices. Results are synthesised into a single index which can range between zero and 100. A reading above (below) 50 signals rising (falling) activity versus the previous month and the closer to 100 (zero) the faster is activity growing (contracting).

The Ivey PMI is provided in two formats -- unadjusted and seasonally adjusted. The index shows responses to one question:"Were your purchases last month in dollars higher, the same, or lower than the previous month?" A figure above 50 shows an increase while below 50 shows a decrease.

The index measures the month to month variation in economic activity as indicated by a panel of purchasing managers. The index uses end of the month data and it covers all sections of Canada's economy. The PMI includes both the public and private sectors and is based on month end data Ivey PMI panel members indicate whether their organizations activity is higher than, the same as, or lower than the previous month across the following five categories: purchases, employment, inventories, supplier deliveries and prices.