September 4, 2002	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Saani25,1423

WASHINGTON, Sept 3: The US manufacturing outlook darkened and job-cutting announcements shot up in August, fresh data showed on Tuesday, stoking fears for the economy.

Analysts’ hopes for a recovery in US industry were dashed by a survey showing manufacturing activity crawled ahead in August but that new orders declined.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) purchasing managers’ index — based on a survey of supply executives — was at 50.5 points in August, unchanged from July.

Any figure above 50 points indicates growth.

“Manufacturing activity improved slightly during August,” said the survey committee chairman, Norbert Ore.

—AFP