Yahoo Finance Live’s Julie Hyman breaks down U.S. PMI data as manufacturing activity nears a contraction.

Video Transcript

- Julia, over to you though, with some breaking news on manufacturing.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, the Institute for Supply Management's gauge of manufacturing at 50.9. That is the lowest number since March. Excuse me, May of 2020. And remember, 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.

So creeping closer to contraction here. It's lower than the 52 that economists were looking for, and much lower than the 52.8 that we saw in August. This is a September number. Prices paid component of this index, actually, pretty much in line with estimates showing a decrease to 51.7.

New orders though, do show a below 50 reading, 47.1, as does the employment part of this index at 48.7. So overall, paints a picture of manufacturing in the US that definitely shows that things are weakening, if not yet, in outright contraction. By the way, that price index at 51.7 is the lowest since June of 2020, could be reflecting lower energy prices. So that's something to keep an eye on, I guess, on the more positive side.