the numbers a key barometer of american factories fell to a 28month low of 509 in september as high inflation and rapidly rising us interest rates began to rattle the economy the institute for supply management’s manufacturing survey declined from 528 in august economists polled by the wall street journal had forecast the index to drop to 52 while numbers above 50 signify economic growth the index has fallen sharply since earlier in the year the ism report is viewed as a window into the health of the us economy big picture rising interest rates are acting as an increasing headwind on the economy and manufacturers are feeling the pinch they are still growing for now but some are adopting hiring freezes in anticipation of demand weakening even further market reaction the dow jones industrial average djia and sp 500 spx rose in monday trades stocks have been under pressure for the past few weeks and have lost a lot of ground