The seasonally adjusted Ivey purchasing managers index for July is down to 48.6 after 50.2 in June, below neutral for the first time since 49.3 in December 2022. The decrease is due to a slight contraction in the indexes for inventories and deliveries.

The employment index remains in expansion at 54.2 in July from 57.6 in June and is consistent with steady hiring. The inventories index remains right around neutral at 49.8 in July after 52.7 in June. The deliveries index falls to 47.9 in July from 53.4 in June and is the first below neutral reading since 49.1 in December 2022. The prices index is up to 65.1 in July after 60.6 in the prior month and is the highest since 65.3 in February. Prices rose in part on higher energy costs.

The unadjusted Ivey purchasing managers index is down to 45.2 in July after 53.4 in June and is lower for the second month in a row. The index is the lowest since 40.6 in December 2022.

The unadjusted employment index is down to 55.4 in July from 61.4 in June but is maintaining a modest pace of hiring. The inventories index is down to 51.2 in July from 56.0 in the prior month. The reading for inventories has been running right around the neutral mark since November 2022, if with the occasional tweak higher. The deliveries index is down to 47.8 in July from 55.9 in the prior month and is the slowest since 43.3 in December 2022. The prices index is higher at 63.3 from 60.6 in June, but doesn't indicate a big gain in the pace of price increases.

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.