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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. manufacturing activity slowed in November, with new orders retreating from their highest level in nearly 17 years, as a resurgence in COVID-19 cases across the nation kept workers at home and factories temporarily shut down to sanitize facilities.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Tuesday warned that absenteeism at factories and their suppliers as well as difficulties in returning and hiring workers would continue to 'dampen' manufacturing until the coronavirus crisis ended.
The softening in factory activity supports expectations for a sharp deceleration in economic growth in the fourth quarter amid the raging pandemic and end of fiscal stimulus.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday urged Congress to provide more help for small businesses.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed a new $908 billion emergency relief package for small businesses and millions of unemployed Americans.
The ISM's index of national factory activity dropped to a reading of 57.5 last month from 59.3 in October, which had been the highest since Nov 2018.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion in manufacturing, which accounts for 11.3% of the U.S. economy. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index would slip to 58 in November.
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