New York, May 3 (IANS/EFE): Growth in the US manufacturing sector slowed slightly last month, but remains healthy, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said Monday.

While the ISM index fell from 61.2 in March to 60.4 in April, four consecutive months with a reading above 60 marks the sector's best performance since 2004.

Any reading above 50 indicates growth.

"The recent trend of rapid growth in the manufacturing sector continued in April," noted Norbert J. Ore, chair of ISM's Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

"The New Orders and Production Indexes continue to drive the PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index), as they have both exceeded 60 percent for five consecutive months," he said.

ISM's Employment Index stood at 62.7 percent in April, down from 63 percent the previous month, yet Ore pointed out that the Employment Index readings for the first four months of 2011 "are the highest" in the last 38 years.

At the same time, he sounded a notion of caution about increases in commodities prices.

"While the manufacturing sector is definitely performing above most expectations so far in 2011, manufacturers are experiencing significant cost pressures from commodities and other inputs," Ore said.