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The US manufacturing sector contracted for the eighth consecutive month, according to data released Monday morning by the Institute for Supply Management.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at 48.7 for October, down 0.4 points from 49.1 in September. Analysts had expected a reading of 49.2. Readings below 50 mark a contraction, while those above 50 mark an expansion.

Readings on new orders, new export orders, backlog of orders, and customers’ inventories — the four demand indicators — all improved, though they remain in contraction territory.

Output measures production and employment contracted during the month, albeit at a slower pace, while input measures supplier deliveries, inventories, prices, and imports were mixed.

“Short gains have not appeared to translate into sustained growth for the sector, a reflection of continuing economic uncertainty,” ISM chair Susan Spence said.

The report noted that prices for imported materials, including aluminum, copper, precious metals, and some steel, have increased. Critical minerals and rare earth magnets, at the heart of trade negotiations between President Trump and Beijing, were in “short supply,” the ISM report said.

“Business continues to remain difficult, as customers are cancelling and reducing orders due to uncertainty in the global economic environment and regarding the ever-changing tariff landscape,” a survey respondent from the chemical products sector said.