By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com -- The U.S. manufacturing sector shrank by more than expected in December and contracted for the second straight month, according to new data on Wednesday.
The Institute for Supply Management's index gauging activity in the manufacturing industry - a little over a tenth of the total U.S. economy - slipped to 48.4 during the month. The reading is down from 49.0 in November, which was itself the first time since May 2020 that the measure fell below the 50-point mark denoting contraction.
Economists had predicted that the figure would decline to 48.5.