U.S. manufacturing activity growth continued to slow in the month of January, said the Institute for Supply Management in a report on Feb. 1. January saw manufacturing activity fall to a 14-month low amid an outbreak of Omicron cases at the start of the year. ISM did mark, however, the third straight month of improvements in the labor and supply chain crunch. Unfinished work has increased at its slowest pace in 15 months as manufacturers remain upbeat on demand according to the report. “The U.S. manufacturing sector remains in a demand-driven, supply chain-constrained environment, but January was the third straight month with indications of improvements in labor resources and supplier delivery performance,” said Timothy R. Fiore, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. “Still, there were shortages of critical intermediate materials, difficulties in transporting products and lack of direct labor on factory floors due to the COVID-19 omicron variant,” he …