A gauge of U.S. factory activity unexpectedly improved in October for a second month, offering some hope that the manufacturing sector is stabilizing.
The IHS Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 51.5 from a final September reading of 51.1, according to a preliminary October report issued Thursday that matched the highest estimate in Bloomberg’s survey of economists.
“If manufacturing can continue to gain momentum this should hopefully feed through to stronger jobs growth and an improved service sector performance, leading to better GDP growth,” said Chris Williamson, economist at IHS Markit.
