US manufacturing sector in July contracts for 9th month

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US manufacturing sector in July contracted for the ninth consecutive month, according to a report released Tuesday by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

The ISM manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 46.4% last month -- 0.4 percentage points higher than the 46.0% recorded in June.

While a reading above 50 indicates growth, one below that shows contraction.

The market expectation for the index, based on replies from purchasing and supply executives in more than 400 industrial firms, was to come in at 46.8% in June.

"The July composite index reading reflects companies continuing to manage outputs down as order softness continues," said Timothy Fiore, the chair of ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

The new orders index failed to leave the contraction zone in June, recording an 11th consecutive month in that territory, by coming in at 47.3% -- 1.7 percentage points higher than 45.6% in June.

The production index in June was also in the contraction territory with a reading of 48.3%, which was a 1.6 percentage point increase from June's figure of 46.7%.