U.S. manufacturing economic activity contracted for the third consecutive month in January, according to the most recent Manufacturing ISM® Report on Business®. The manufacturing PMI came in at 47.4%, 1 percentage point lower than December’s seasonally adjusted 48.4%.

Food, beverage, and tobacco was one of 15 industries reporting contraction during the month. The industry also reported a decrease in production, decreased prices for raw materials, faster supplier deliveries, and an increase in import volumes.

According to one industry respondent, “Sales have dropped (as expected) at the beginning of the year. Forecast from the sales department is showing even lower sales then [sic] we expected. If this holds true, inventory levels will rise slightly over next month and a half.”