The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business fell to 59.6 in August from 63.9 in July, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Friday.
New orders received slid to 67.8 from 76.6, production dropped to 59.3 from 67.5, employment increased to 60.4 from 56.7, supplier deliveries dipped to 62.9 from 63.1, and backlog of orders gained to 63.0 from 58.3.
Inventory levels declined to 47.7 from 55.6, customers' inventories dropped to 28.6 from 38.9, prices rose to 67.4 from 66.7, exports grew to 56.3 from 53.9 and imports slid to 59.4 from 63.3.
The blue collar diffusion index climbed to 60.4 from 56.7, while the white collar diffusion index dipped to 53.7 from 53.9.
