The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer declined from 67.6 in April to 56.6 in May, reports Leah Schnurr for Reuters. New orders dropped to 53.5 from 66.3.
“While weakness in manufacturing may simply reflect auto parts shortages,” says Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, “this is the fifth regional manufacturing index to fall sharply in May,” which he thinks “reinforces the general sense the economy is losing steam.”
The Conference Board announced that its consumer-confidence index dropped to 66.8 in May, a six month low, from a revised 66 in April, writes Jeffry Bartash for MarketWatch.
For more information on the U.S. markets, visit our S&P 500 category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.