U.S. manufacturing pace slowed in March

WASHINGTON — Factories slowed production and orders waned in the United States in March.

The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 51.3 from the prior month’s 54.2, the Tempe, Ariz.-based group reported Monday.

Limited improvement in the global economy and concern about the effects on the U.S. expansion from automatic cuts in federal spending may be prompting some companies to cut back. At the same time, progress in the housing industry and resilient consumer demand will help to cushion the hit, keeping American factories running.

“It’s a mixed picture,” said Guy LeBas, chief fixedincome strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia. “It highlights the downside of reduced government spending but underscores a fairly stable private sector.”

Stocks edged lower on Wall Street Monday after the manufacturing report showed growth was weaker than economists had forecast.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell five points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 14,572 Monday.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 gave up seven points, 0.5 percent, to 1,562. The S&P 500 closed at an alltime high last week, beating the record it set in October 2007.

The Nasdaq composite fell 28 points, or 0.9 per- cent, to 3,239.

The decline in the factory gauge was the biggest since July 2011. As part of the attempt to rein in the federal budget deficit, the government began acrossthe-board reductions in spending on March 1. About $85 billion of those will occur in this fiscal year.