Manufacturing falls across the board

TEMPE, Ariz., March 2 (UPI) -- None of the 18 manufacturing sectors tracked each month by a research group reported increased business activity in February, the group said Monday.

The Institute for Supply Management said contractions were reported by manufacturing industries across the board.

The headline Purchasing Managers Index rose 0.2 points in the month to 35.8, meaning the contraction in February slowed marginally compared to January. But, indexes must rise to more than 50 to indicate growth. This hasn't happened in 13 months, ISM said.

New orders, a component index, contracted for the 15th consecutive month, falling slightly to 33.1. The production index rose to 36.3 but manufacturing employment declined 3.8 points to 26.1, the seventh consecutive month employment has contracted.

Manufacturing exports have remained in a downward trend for five months.

"Manufacturing continued to decline at a rapid rate in February," said Norbert Ore, chairman of the Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

"While production has slowed its rate of decline, employment continues to fall precipitously," he said.

"Prices continue to decline but price advantages are not sufficient to overcome manufacturers' apparent loss of demand," he said.

A chance for recover in 2009? "Respondents appear generally pessimistic," he said.