U.S. manufacturing activity continued to cool in July as more factories dialed back production in the face of shrinking orders and rising inventories.

A measure of U.S. manufacturing activity weakened in June to a two-year low as new orders contracted, restrained by lingering supply constraints and some softening in demand.

Persistent supply chain challenges continued to weigh on U.S. manufacturers in October, lengthening supplier delivery times and bloating a measure of inventories.

U.S. manufacturing improved again in July with a key gauge of activity rising further into expansion territory.

WASHINGTON — U.S. manufacturing output dropped for the third straight month in October as trade tensions and a slowing global economy took a toll on American factories.

Business conditions have rebounded in 2017 for companies involved in manufacturing and commodities, and the outlook remains positive for the industrial sector, according to economists at the inaugural American Trucking Associations Economic Summit.

American factories powered up in June at the fastest pace in nearly three years with robust advances in production, orders and employment that indicate a firming in the economy, data from the Institute for Supply Management showed July 3.