The U.S. manufacturing slump intensified in April, but not by as much as economists feared. The ISM Manufacturing Index fell to 41.5, better than Wall Street estimates of 35 but down sharply from March’s 49.1. The measure is a diffusion gauge, measuring the percentage of firms seeing expansion, so a reading below 50 indicates contraction. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices