JOC Staff | Oct 11, 2012 3:03PM EDT
U.S. manufacturing growth will continue to soften for the next three to six months, according to a Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation survey released today.
The September 2012 composite index fell to 56 from 61 in the June 2012 survey, which is the ninth consecutive quarterly decline and the largest drop within that period. Despite the fall, the index remains above 50, the dividing line between contraction and expansion.
Manufacturing is actually expected to expand, but at a much slower rate than in the past two years, said Donald A. Norman, Ph.D., MAPI senior economist and survey coordinator.