Global Manufacturing Shrinks for a Fifth Month on Export Slump

(Bloomberg) -- Global manufacturing shrank for a fifth straight month in September as new export orders extended their longest streak of contractions since 2002, signs that intensifying global growth headwinds aren’t poised to let up any time soon.

The JPMorgan Global Manufacturing Index edged up to 49.7 from 49.5, with gauges of employment and new orders each contracting for a fifth straight month. The measure of incoming orders for shipments abroad remained below 50, the dividing line between expansion and contraction, for a 13th month.

The global purchasing managers’ index is compiled by IHS Markit and based on the results of surveys of more than 13,500 executives in over 40 countries that represent about 98 percent of global gross domestic product.

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