Purchasing Managers Graph Slowing Economy

The Institute for Supply Management,a U.S. buyers' trade group,has released its Purchasing Managers Index for September.The manufacturing sector index fell to 52 in September from 52.9 in August,but had been expected to reach 52.5 at a minimum.This indicates continuing ecconomic growth,but at a slower pace than was previously believed.The ISM manufacturing index surveys more than 350 companies.In September,new orders fell to 53.4,down from 55.3 in August.The production index dropped to 54.6 from 56.1.The ISM service sector index for September depicts a similar scene,although it is more significant to the U.S. economy,which is predominantly service-oriented.The September reading was 54.8,down from 55.8 in August.New orders declined to 53.4 from 57.Inventories plummeted from 57 to 50,on account of the decline in orders.These are not recessionary numbers,but seem to support a gentle landing scenario at this late phase of the business cycle.The ISM manufacturing index was seconded by the factory orders report,which showed a drop of 3.3%,versus an expected fall of 2.4%.Investors are looking to multinationals such as IBM or exchange-traded funds such as the iShares Trust FTSE/Xinhua China 25 index(FXI) to get beyond the U.S. slowdown.