A private-sector measure of U.S. manufacturing activity declined last month at the slowest pace since August, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said Monday. Production jumped to its highest level in more than two years and its manufacturing index read 48.9, up from 44.8 in June, said ISM, a trade group of purchasing executives. That is better than the 46.2 reading analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected. “If we stay on trend ... we would expect to be above 50 next month,” said Norbert Ore, chair of ISM's manufacturing survey committee. The pace of decline has been slowing since the index hit a 28-year low of 32.9 in December. And it was the third straight monthly reading above 41.2, which tends to indicate expansion in the overall economy if sustained at such levels, according to the ISM. The moderating decline in U.S. manufacturing mirrors improvements in the industrial sectors in China, Britain and Europe.
