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US factories expanded in January at the weakest pace in eight months as orders slumped, a sign manufacturing cooled at the start of the year along with the weather.
The Institute for Supply Management's factory index decreased to 51.3 from 56.5 the prior month, the Tempe, Arizona- based group's report showed today. The January figure was less than the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey in which the median estimate was 56. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.
The group's measure of orders declined by the most since December 1980 as "a number" of purchasing managers said adverse weather slowed business. Sustained gains in consumer purchases, improvement in the labor market and a pickup in capital spending will be needed to keep assembly lines humming in the world's biggest economy.
