The U.S. manufacturing sector’s economic activity shrank for the fourth straight month in June as businesses tackled tariff concerns, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said in a July 1 statement.
While ISM’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose 0.5 percentage points in June from May, it remained at 49 percent, below the 50 percent threshold. A PMI reading below 50 percent is an indication that industries in the manufacturing sector are generally contracting.
Prior to June, the PMI expanded for two months, which had followed 26 consecutive months of declines.
“Looking at the manufacturing economy, 46 percent of the sector’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted in June, down from 57 percent in May,” said Susan Spence, chair of the ISM manufacturing business survey committee. “However, 25 percent of GDP is strongly contracting,” which is up from 5 percent in May….