Usa: manufacturing index falls to 50,9 points in August, better than expected

The ISM manufacturing index of the United States fell to 50,6 points in August, however reaching a level higher than expected. Based on the forecasts of analysts, a drop below the critical threshold of 50 points was in fact foreseen for the first time since July 2009.
Expectations had indicated 49 points from 50,9 in July, when the index had already dropped sharply from 55,3 the previous month. The psychological threshold of 50 points, which constitutes the demarcation line between the contraction phase and the expansion phase of manufacturing activity, is therefore very close. An appetizer of the negative trend came yesterday from the ISM index of the city of New York which recorded a sharp contraction to 47,8 points from 57,2 in the previous month, thus reaching its lowest since July 2009.