ISM's US factory prices index, August to September 2026
US factory prices jumped again in September
US factories paid a lot more in September. The ISM's factory prices index jumped from 71.1 to 77.9. 58.6% of factories said they paid more, up from 46.2% in August.
This is the 2nd jump this year. Prices first shot up when the Iran war began in March, and peaked at 84.6 in April. They cooled to 71.1 by July. Now they are rising again.
Factories blame 3 things: steel and aluminium prices, tariffs, and oil-based products made dearer by the Middle East conflict. Services firms feel it too. Their prices index rose to 74, the highest since July 2022.
Business itself barely moved. The PMI is a monthly survey of purchasing managers, the people responsible for buying supplies. It asks them whether their orders, output and hiring went up or down.
A reading above 50 means business grew. The factory PMI slipped from 54.6 to 54.5, a dip of just 0.1. The services PMI slipped from 55.4 to 54.9, a dip of 0.5. Both are still above 50, so US business grew in September at about the same pace as in August.
So US businesses are growing at the same pace, but paying a lot more to do it.
US factory prices jumped again in September
ISM's prices index and PMI for US factories, December 2025 to September 2026. Prices jumped again in September while the PMI held steady.
April peak of 84.6, after the Iran war began in March
Above 50 means more firms reported a rise than a fall. Each month is from that month's ISM release; December 2025 is from January's.
ISM, Manufacturing PMI Reports, January to October 2026