Surveys of American manufacturers are signaling a weaker economy ahead. MarketWatch’s Jeffry Bartash reports:
The numbers: A key barometer of American factory activity fell to a 30-month low of 49% in November — contracting for the first time since the start of the pandemic — in another sign the U.S. economy is getting weaker.
The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing survey declined from 50.2% in October.
The ISM report is viewed as a window into the health of the economy. Numbers below 50% signal the economy is contracting.
The last time the index was this low was in May 2020, near the end of a nationwide lockdown in the early stages of the pandemic.
“Looking into December and the first quarter of 2023, business is softening as uncertain economic conditions lie ahead,” an executive at a maker of plastics and rubber products told ISM.
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