Chicago PMI slips into negative territory in November

A widely followed indicator of business conditions fell into negative territory in November, figures released on Monday showed.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures business conditions across Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, declined from 56.2 last month to 48.7 in November, falling short of analysts’ expectations for a 54 reading.

The figure marked the sixth time this year the index has fallen in contraction territory this year.

"While the negative reading in November suggests sluggish Chicago-area activity, we do not see this morning’s print as necessarily indicative of a national slowdown," said analysts at Barclays.