The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) index of U.S. manufacturing activity fell to 51.2% in October, down 1.7 percentage points from September's 52.9%. Since October's figure was above 50%, it means the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy continued to grow, but growth was not by much. An index figure below 50% would have indicated the manufacturing sector was contracting.
Within manufacturing, both new orders and production continued to grow in October, but more slowly than in September. New orders slipped 2.1 percentage points to 52.1% in October. Production fell 4.2 percentage points to 51.9%.
