Contrary to recent advances, the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted in June for the first time since July 2009 as new demand crashed, according to data released today by the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 49.7 last month from 53.5 in May. A reading above 50 indicates expanding activity.
Because the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) mentioned manufacturing as one of the few sectors to create jobs last month with 12,000 added, I shared this as one promising jobs creation area on my recent TV appearance on First Business with 495,000 new jobs generated since the low point of January, 2010. However, today’s report from ISM gives me cause for concern.
