--- title: "Manufacturing & Business Activity Economic Releases: How to Read the Data" description: "ISM surveys, durable goods orders, industrial production, and PMI data. Leading indicators of business cycle turning points." canonical: https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/ source: "Swoopr Investment: https://www.getswoopr.com" --- ## Direct Answer > ISM surveys, durable goods orders, industrial production, and PMI data. Leading indicators of business cycle turning points. # Manufacturing & Business Activity Economic Releases: Reading the Key Data Releases ## Why manufacturing & business activity data matters to investors ISM surveys and PMI data are among the most reliable leading indicators of economic activity. Manufacturing and services PMI data release early in each month, before most hard data, providing a real-time read on business conditions. Each release in this section follows a standard structure: a direct answer explaining what the release is and why it matters, production facts including publisher, frequency, and release timing, detailed guidance on reading the headline and its components, a scenario analysis covering stronger and weaker results, notes on revision risk, and links to related releases. ## Releases in this category - [ISM Manufacturing PMI](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/ism-manufacturing-pmi/) -- Monthly, Very High market sensitivity - [ISM Services PMI](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/ism-services-pmi/) -- Monthly, Very High market sensitivity - [Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/industrial-production-and-capacity-utilization/) -- Monthly, High market sensitivity - [Durable Goods Orders](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/durable-goods-orders/) -- Monthly, High market sensitivity - [Industrial Production](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/industrial-production/) -- Monthly, High market sensitivity - [Core Capital Goods Orders](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/core-capital-goods-orders/) -- Monthly, High market sensitivity - [S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/s-and-p-global-us-manufacturing-pmi/) -- Monthly, High market sensitivity - [S&P Global US Services PMI](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/s-and-p-global-us-services-pmi/) -- Monthly, High market sensitivity - [Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/philadelphia-fed-manufacturing-business-outlook-survey/) -- Monthly, High market sensitivity - [S&P Global US Composite PMI](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/s-and-p-global-us-composite-pmi/) -- Monthly, High market sensitivity - [Capacity Utilization](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/capacity-utilization/) -- Monthly, High market sensitivity - [Empire State Manufacturing Survey](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/empire-state-manufacturing-survey/) -- Monthly, High market sensitivity - [Dallas Fed Energy Survey](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/dallas-fed-energy-survey/) -- Quarterly, Medium market sensitivity - [Factory Orders](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/factory-orders/) -- Monthly, Medium market sensitivity - [Dallas Fed Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/dallas-fed-texas-manufacturing-outlook-survey/) -- Monthly, Medium market sensitivity - [Richmond Fed Manufacturing Survey](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/richmond-fed-manufacturing-survey/) -- Monthly, Medium market sensitivity - [Manufacturers Shipments Inventories and Orders](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/manufacturers-shipments-inventories-and-orders/) -- Monthly, Medium market sensitivity - [Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/kansas-city-fed-manufacturing-survey/) -- Monthly, Medium market sensitivity - [Dallas Fed Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/dallas-fed-texas-service-sector-outlook-survey/) -- Monthly, Low market sensitivity - [Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/chicago-fed-survey-of-economic-conditions/) -- Monthly, Low market sensitivity - [Richmond Fed Services Survey](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/richmond-fed-services-survey/) -- Monthly, Low market sensitivity - [Kansas City Fed Services Survey](https://www.getswoopr.com/economic-releases/manufacturing-and-business-activity/kansas-city-fed-services-survey/) -- Monthly, Low market sensitivity ## Frequently asked questions What are the most important manufacturing & business activity releases to follow? The most market-sensitive manufacturing & business activity releases are ranked by importance score in this library. ISM Manufacturing PMI, ISM Services PMI, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization are among the highest-impact releases in this category. The relative importance of each release varies with the current macro regime. How often are manufacturing & business activity data releases updated? The frequency varies by release: ISM Manufacturing PMI is monthly; ISM Services PMI is monthly; Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization is monthly. Most releases also carry revisions to prior periods, which can be as market-moving as the initial release. Which asset classes are most affected by manufacturing & business activity data? Manufacturing & Business Activity releases primarily affect: Stocks, Industrials, Materials, Treasuries, USD. The strength of the effect depends on the surprise versus consensus expectations and the current monetary policy regime. What is revision risk in manufacturing & business activity data releases? Revision risk is the likelihood that initial data releases will be materially changed in subsequent releases. Watching revisions to prior periods is as important as reading the initial headline, because a strong initial number revised sharply lower is a different signal than an unrevised strong number. **[Swoopr Editorial Team](https://www.getswoopr.com/authors/swoopr-editorial-team/)** The Swoopr Editorial Team produces independent investment education content. Our research and editorial process is described in our [editorial policy](https://www.getswoopr.com/legal/editorial-policy/). Errors and corrections: [corrections policy](https://www.getswoopr.com/legal/corrections-policy/).