US manufacturing contracted in November for the first time since May 2020 as output weakened in the face of a third-straight month of shrinking orders.
According to data released Thursday, the ISM’s gauge of factory activity slid to 49 from 50.2 in the prior month.
The measure has fallen in five of the last six months and stands below 50, the threshold separating expansion and contraction, for the first time since the pandemic lockdowns.