03:44 PM EDT, 05/01/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The US manufacturing sector fell deeper into contraction in April amid weak demand, the Institute for Supply Management said Thursday, while S&P Global ( SPGI ) data showed that activity stalled.

The ISM purchasing managers' index dropped to 48.7 last month from 49 in March. A reading below 50 indicates the manufacturing sector is generally contracting. The consensus was for a 47.9 print in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

"In April, US manufacturing activity slipped marginally further into contraction after expanding only marginally in February," said Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM's manufacturing business survey committee. "Demand and output weakened while input strengthened further, conditions that are not considered positive for economic growth."

The new orders index contracted for the third straight month in April, though it improved to 47.2 from 45.2 in March, according to the ISM survey. The production gauge dropped to 44 from 48.3, indicating that companies continue to scale back production plans due to economic headwinds. Price growth accelerated "slightly due to tariffs," Fiore said.

US President Donald Trump declared a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs for non-retaliating countries last month, though Washington and Beijing have been in a deadlock. The Trump administration has reached out to China to begin discussions on tariffs, Bloomberg News reported, citing a state-run media outlet.

Separately, S&P Global ( SPGI ) said its manufacturing PMI was steady at 50.2 in April, below the 50.5 consensus in a Bloomberg poll. New orders grew at the softest pace of 2025, while output fell for a second straight month, according to the report.

"Manufacturing continued to flat-line in April amid worrying downside risks to the outlook and sharply rising costs," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. "Factory output fell for a second successive month as tariffs were widely blamed on a slump in export orders and curbed spending among customers more broadly amid rising uncertainty."

On Wednesday, government data showed that US economy contracted in the March quarter, representing the first quarterly decline in three years.

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