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NEW YORK — A measure of U.S. manufacturing activity contracted more than expected last month, hitting the lowest level since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, as new orders slowed drastically.
The Institute for Supply Management released a September reading Wednesday of 43.5, the lowest level since October 2001. The reading dropped from 49.9 in August, the largest one-month decline since January 1984, when it fell to 60.5 from 69.9.
A reading above 50 signals growth.
Wall Street economists had predicted a reading of 49.5, according to the consensus estimate of those surveyed by Thomson/IFR.
