US Factory PMI Slips to 54.6 as High Input Costs Keep the Fed's Inflation Problem Alive
U.S. manufacturing activity expanded for an eighth straight month in August, but the ISM Manufacturing PMI slipped to 54.6 percent from 55.6 percent in July, a decrease of 1 percentage point. The slower headline reading came as the Prices Index held at 71.1 percent, leaving evidence of sustained raw-material cost pressure even as factory growth cooled.