US manufacturing contracted for a second straight month in October, a report said today, keeping alive concerns the US economy has stalled.
The data were the latest in a series of weak reports on the economy, cementing bets in financial markets that the Federal Reserve, faced with a stumbling recovery and almost no jobs growth, will cut interest rates by at least a quarter percentage point next week.
The Institute for Supply Management said its index of manufacturing business conditions fell in October to 48.5 from 49.5 in September. That was slightly below forecasts for 48.9 and under the 50 mark, denoting contraction in a sector that makes up less than one-fifth of the US economy.