The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business fell to 52.1 in November from 57.1 in October, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported.
New orders received slid to 56.8 from 63.5, production slipped to 55.6 from 62.6, employment decreased to 50.5 from 59.5, supplier deliveries inched up to 52.7 from 52.1, and backlog of orders soared to 52.6 from 43.2.
Inventory levels declined to 44.7 from 47.8, customers' inventories rose to 47.2 from 42.1, prices fell to 57.9 from 63.0, exports dropped to 54.6 from 60.0 and imports fell to 50.0 from 53.3.
The blue collar diffusion index decreased to 47.7 from 52.9, while the white collar diffusion index dipped to 56.1 from 57.3.
