Indicators
US Manufacturing Nears Stagnation, Price Gauge at Two-Year Low
- ISM October factory index slips to 50.2 as orders contract
- A measure of prices paid decreases to 46.6 from 51.7
The overall manufacturing index has fallen in four of the last five months.
Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
US manufacturing neared stagnation in October as orders contracted for the fourth time in five months, while an index of prices paid fell to a more than two-year low.
The Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of factory activity retreated 0.7 point to 50.2, the lowest since May 2020, according to data released Tuesday. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a drop to 50, the reading that separates expansion and contraction.