WASHINGTON — US manufacturing activity barely grew in July, according to a key index released Monday in a demonstration of an economy struggling to expand.
The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing gauge in July dropped 4.4 points to 50.9 percent, the worst reading since July 2009 and barely staying above the 50 percent no-change line and coming in below a MarketWatch-compiled economist poll of 54.3 percent.
Since April, the ISM index has slumped 9.5 points, the worst three-month dip since the September-to-November 2008 period when Lehman Brothers collapsed.
The new orders index fell into contractionary territory for the first time since June 2009, and indexes for prices and employment in particular saw big drops. The prices index has dropped a stunning 26.5 points over the past three months. The employment gauge fell 6.4 points to 53.5 percent.
Similar gauges released across the globe pointed to deteriorating if not contracting conditions.
One of the worst came from Brazil, where the HSBC Brazil manufacturing PMI fell in July to 47.8, the second consecutive month below the 50 no-change line and the worst reading since May 2009. China, Russia, the UK, Spain and Greece also reported sub-50 readings.
US stocks slumped after the ISM report, with the Dow Industrials recently down by 58 points.
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