US: Manufacturing continues to struggle - ANZ

Research Team at ANZ, notes that the US August ISM disappointed, falling to 49.4 from 52.6 last month and was the first reading below 50 since February and highlights that manufacturing continues to struggle.

Key Quotes

“Weakness was broad based: new orders fell to 49.1 vs 56.9, employment eased to 48.3 vs 49.4, and prices paid declined to 53.0 vs 55.0. New export orders were unchanged at 52.5. July construction spending was unchanged falling short of expectations for a 0.6% m/m increase. However, that masked a strong 0.9% upward revision to the June data and May was revised up too (+0.1% vs -0.1%). That will boost the construction component of the Q2 GDP data. It is worth noting that private construction rose 1% in July and the data were dragged down by a 3.1% m/m drop in government construction spending.”