The US economy is showing tentative signs of recovery, according to the latest economic data released today.
The National Association Purchasing Management (NAPM) index which gauges sentiment in the manufacturing sector said its overall index rose to 41.9 per cent in February from 41.2 per cent in January.
The gain was greater than the rise to 41.4 projected in a survey of economists.
The NAPM said manufacturing in February fell for the seventh successive month, while the overall US economy failed to grow for the second month in a row.
The prices sub-index fell to 58.1 in February from 65.7 the previous month, while the employment index fell to 37.2 from 43.
"The manufacturing sector continued to contract in February. However, it is encouraging that we see slowing in the rate of decline in six of the nine indexes," NAPM survey committee chairman Mr Norbert Ore said.
"This could be an indication that the manufacturing sector bottomed in January, though we must caution that it takes more than one month's data to make that determination," he said.