U.S. Manufacturing Expanded Less Than Forecast in April
A factory worker selects pieces of white oak to be manufactured into bourbon barrels at the Brown-Forman Corp. cooperage facility in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 20, 2017.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
America’s factories expanded less than forecast in April as measures of orders and employment pulled back, Institute for Supply Management data showed on Monday.
Even with the retreat last month, the gauge remains well above the 51.5 average for all of 2016 and indicates healthy optimism among factory managers. The data show manufacturing is settling into a more sustained pace of growth after expanding in February by the most since mid-2014.