US manufacturers struggle in August

(MENAFN) Like many other global leasing economies, US is facing hard times, particularly its factory activity which hit a more than two-year low in August, according to released data.

The slowdown is driven by the fact that manufacturers are struggling with weak global demand and strong dollar, thus the national factory activity index dropped to 51.1 last month, the lowest reading since 2013.

Manufacturing, which represents 12 percent of the US economy, has been under pressure from the strength of the dollar, which has gained 16.8 percent against the currencies of the United States.

But apart from manufacturing, the economy is booming, as construction spending has in fact increased for eight straight months and was as up 13.7 percent compared to July of 2014.