Manufacturing in U.S. Shrank in August for Third Month

Manufacturing in the U.S. contracted for a third month in August, the longest slide since the recession ended and a sign the expansion is at risk of losing a source of strength. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 49.6 last month, the lowest since July 2009, from 49.8 in July, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said today. Economists in the Bloomberg survey projected an August reading of 50, which is the dividing line between expansion and contraction. Measures of orders, production and employment were the weakest since 2009.