Chicago PMI up, but misses the mark in March

Published Tue, Mar 31 20159:57 AM EDT

A worker making parts for industrial coffee grinding equipment at the Modern Process Equipment manufacturing facility in Chicago.

Tim Boyle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Business Barometer edged up in March after a sharp decline the previous month, but fell below expectations for a bounce back.

The measure hit 46.3 this month, slightly above February's 45.8. The figure compares to the 51.5 that was expected by economists in a Reuters poll.