U.S. Economy Growing, Albeit at Slowest Pace Since May 2020, Purchasing Execs Say

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector grew for the 28th consecutive month.  But if you don't feel like cheering that's because the 50.9% Purchasing Manager's Index figure was 1.9 percentage points lower than August.  Plus: New Orders returned to contraction territory at 47.1%, the Prices index of 51.7% is down 0.8 percentage point in just one month and is the lowest since June 2020.  Order backlogs fell 2.1 points in a month, and after a single month of expansion, the employment index was 5.5 percentage points lower than August.

Supplier deliveries in September were the lowest reading since before the coronavirus pandemic, and inventories ticked upward 2.4 percentage points.  Reflecting global weakness, new export orders contracted 47.8%, down 1.6 points in a month to the lowest reading since June 2020, but imports ticked up, 0.1 percentage point to 52.6%.