Manufacturing in the US contracted for a 14th straight month in March as factories kept cutting production amid the economic downturn that this month becomes the longest since the Great Depression.
The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to 36.3 last month from 35.8 in February.
Readings less than 50 signal a contraction.
Factories continue to reduce payrolls and scale back output and investment as the global recession and the housing and credit crises sap demand for their goods.
While consumer spending showed signs of a rebound early this year, the now 17-month US slump surpasses similar contractions in the 1970s and 1980s as the longest in more than seven decades.
“The pace of decline is slowing down, that’s important,” David Wyss, chief economist with Standard & Poor’s in New York, said.
“It is too early to look for a turnaround, but maybe it is time to start saying that things are not getting as bad as quickly as they were earlier.”
Economists forecast the institute’s manufacturing measure would increase to 36, according to the median of 74 projections. Estimates ranged from 30 to 39.
The ISM’s gauge of new orders rose to 41.2 from 33.1 the prior month. The measure of export orders rose to 39 from 37.5 in February.
The group’s employment index rose to 28.1 from 26.1, which was the lowest since record-keeping began in 1948.
The Labor Department is scheduled to release its March employment report on April 3rd. US employers may have eliminated 660,000 jobs, a fourth straight month of more than 650,000 losses, according to the survey.
Earlier today, ADP Employer Services said companies in the US cut an estimated 742,000 workers in March, pointing to no relief in sight for the labour market.
The ISM’s gauge of inventories fell to 32.2, the lowest since August 1982, from 37 in February. The group’s index of prices paid rose to 31 last month, from 29.
Economists had estimated the measure rose to 33, according to the survey. Regional reports showed manufacturing contracting in March.
Bloomberg