WASHINGTON—U.S. manufacturing contracted for a fourth straight month in February, but there were signs that factory activity was starting to stabilize, with a measure of new orders pulling back from more than a 2-1/2-year low.
The Institute for Supply Management survey on Wednesday also showed prices for raw materials increasing last month, suggesting inflation could remain elevated after monthly consumer and producer prices surged in January.
“Manufacturing continues to contract but not at a sufficiently rapid pace to suggest a recession in the overall economy at this point, while prices of raw materials appear to have risen,” said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital in New York….