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WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. manufacturing activity expanded in December after contracting the previous month, a trade group said Wednesday, leaving economists cautiously hopeful about the sector's prospects for next year.
The top areas of concern at the start of 2007 are the slowdown in the automotive and residential real-estate segments of the economy, and the expectation is for weaker manufacturing growth to be mitigated by rising exports and business investment.
The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday its manufacturing index registered 51.4 in December, compared with 49.5 in November, which was the first time the sector's activity shrank since April 2003. A reading below 50 indicates contraction, while above 50 signals expansion.
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