U.S. manufacturing activity slowest in almost 2.5 yrs in October: Reuters

LONDON, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United States' manufacturing activity grew at its slowest pace in nearly 2.5 years in October while a measure of prices paid by businesses for inputs slid for a seventh straight month, Reuters has reported.

It linked the slowdown with the Federal Reserve's aggressive push to raise interest rates in order to quash inflation, an effort that also cools demand for goods.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Tuesday that its manufacturing PMI fell to 50.2 last month from 50.9 in September, both the lowest readings since May 2020, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

It said a reading above 50 signals expansion in manufacturing, which accounts for 11.9 percent of the U.S. economy, adding that economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index declining to 50.0.

In another development, S&P Global's flash manufacturing PMI fell to 49.9 in October, its first contractionary reading since June 2020, according to an earlier Reuters report.

The reading dropped from 52.0 in September and was lower than the economists' forecast of 51.0, Reuters reported on Oct. 24.

"New orders dropped sharply to their lowest since the COVID lockdowns in the spring of 2020," it said.

In a separate news story from the Forbes, economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics worried that the United States already is -- or may soon be -- in recession.

"Respondents highlighted slowing sales, shrinking profit margins and costs, notably wages, as particular causes for concern," said the report, which was also published on Oct. 24.