Monthly factory growth slackens

But manufacturing report still solid, economist states.

WASHINGTON — American factories grew more slowly in November but still appear healthy.

The Institute for Supply Management said Friday that its manufacturing index slipped to 58.2 last month from 58.7 in October. Anything above 50 signals that U.S. factories are expanding. American manufacturing is on a 15-month winning streak.

New orders and production grew faster in November. Hiring and new export orders grew but at a slower pace.

The institute, a trade association of purchasing managers, said 14 of 18 manufacturing industries expanded in November, led by paper and machinery makers.

“This is a very solid report,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “The manufacturing upswing continues.”

U.S. industry has benefited from an improving global economy and from a fall in the dollar, which makes U.S. products less expensive in foreign mar-

● kets.

The Commerce Department reported this week that the American economy expanded at a 3.3 percent annual pace from July through September, the fastest in three years. The unemployment rate has fallen to a 17-year low of 4.1 percent.

A business conditions index for nine Midwest and Plains states dropped over the past month but still suggests that regional economic conditions are improving, a survey report said Friday.

The Mid-America Business Conditions Index slipped to 57.2 in November from 58.8 in October, the report said. The September figure

was 58.2.

“Both the national and our regional indices indicate the manufacturing sector is advancing at a very healthy pace and that this expansion will spill over into the broader national and regional economies in the next three to six months,” said Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey.

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

The improving conditions were reflected in the employment

index, which rose to 53.6 last month from 52.9 in October.

The regional manufacturing sector has added about 25,000 jobs, or 1.8 percent expansion, Goss said. That growth rate significantly exceeds the 1.3 percent sector growth for the nation, he said.

Economic optimism, as captured by the business confidence index, jumped to 71.9 in November from 63.8 in October. Goss credited healthy profit growth, low interest rates and the potential congressional passage of a tax cut package.

A third economic report released Friday said U.S. construction spending surged 1.4 percent in October, the best gain in five months, with all major categories of building posting gains.

The October spending increase was the third monthly gain after more modest advances of 0.3 percent in September and 0.5 percent in August, the Commerce Department said.

Home building was up 0.4 percent, with strength in single-family construction offsetting a drop in apartment building. Nonresidential construction rose 0.9 percent after four straight declines. Spending on government projects jumped 3.9 percent, the biggest one-month gain in three years, with spending at the federal, state and local levels all showing increases.

Though home building has been weak for much of the year, economists expect such construction to rebound as a strong job market strengthens sales in coming months.