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WASHINGTON (AP) - A better than expected performance from the U.S. manufacturing sector in February helped calm investors on Thursday, even as economists cautioned that one month's worth of data is not a cause for too much optimism.
Industrial activity, as measured by the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index, has alternated between growth and contraction every month since October.
Economists were lukewarm about February's reading of 52.3, though the index was well above the January reading of 49.3 and Wall Street's expectation of 50. A reading above 50 indicates growth for the sector.
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