The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business declined to 57.6 in December from 68.9 in November, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Friday.
New orders received fell to 64.2 from 72.4, production slipped to 62.2 from 75.9, employment slumped to 52.6 from 71.5, supplier deliveries dropped to 59.0 from 67.3, and backlog of orders plunged to 36.7 from 72.5.
Inventory levels slid to 50.0 from 57.5, customers' inventories climbed to 50.0 from 39.5, prices dropped to 40.0 from 62.5, exports dipped to 50.0 from 53.3 and imports gained to 59.1 from 57.1.
The blue collar diffusion index fell to 52.6 from 67.9, while the white collar diffusion index declined to 52.6 from 60.1.
