“Thank the trade war, which means no improvement is likely anytime soon,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a note to clients, referring to the ISM reading, which is based on a survey of U.S. purchasing and supply executives. U.S. stock indexes fell after release of the data, with the S&P 500 losing more than 1% in afternoon trading. A separate survey of U.S. manufacturing activity from data firm IHS Markit showed factory activity increased in September, though the reading also showed the July-September period marked the worst quarterly performance for the sector since the same period in 2009. IHS Markit said its September manufacturing index rose to 51.1 from 50.3 in August. Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont, said the U.S. economic outlook remained good because consumer spending and the labor market remain relatively strong. “I’d be more concerned if I saw weakness in […]