Investing.com - Manufacturing activity in the Chicago-area in February contracted for the fourth time in the past six months, dampening optimism over the U.S. economic outlook, industry data showed on Monday.
In a report, market research group Kingsbury International said its Chicago purchasing managers’ index tumbled by 8.0 points to a seasonally adjusted 47.6 this month from a reading of 55.6 in January. Analysts had expected the index to fall 2.6 points to 53.0 in February.
The Barometer’s decline was led by an 18.5 drop in Production, which completely reversed January’s near 16 point gain, pushing it back into contraction.
New Orders also fell sharply and Order Backlogs slipped further into contraction, a situation that has persisted for a year.
Employment also declined significantly, leaving it at the lowest since November 2009 and the fifth consecutive month below 50.
On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates expansion, below indicates contraction.
Chief Economist of MNI Indicators Philip Uglow said, “If one looks beyond the gyrations seen over the past three months then trend activity has been running a little below the 50 neutral mark, highlighting continued sluggish activity levels, with manufacturers under particular pressure.”
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0884 from around 1.0886 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.3883 from 1.3876 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 112.95 from 112.97 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 98.25, compared to 98.27 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were lower after the open. The Dow 30 shed 0.15%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.15%, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.1%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,234.50 a troy ounce, compared to $1,234.20 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $33.19 a barrel from $33.16 earlier.