The Institute for Supply Management said on Monday its manufacturing PMI dropped to 47.9 in the final month of 2025 — the lowest since October 2024 — from 48.2 in November. Still, the PMI remained above 42.3, a level that ISM said over time was consistent with an expansion of the overall economy. The ISM survey's forward-looking new orders sub-index was little changed at 47.7 in December from November's 47.4, marking a fourth straight month of falling demand. Amid the soft demand environment, factory employment declined for an 11th straight month, the sector's longest hiring slump by ISM's measure in about five years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' gauge of US manufacturing employment dropped in November to the lowest since March 2022.

Source: The Edge Markets January 05, 2026 15:10 UTC