US manufacturers expand for 14th straight month in July; factory production, orders, hiring up

US manufacturing expanded for the 14th straight month in July.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, reports that its manufacturing index rose to 57.1, up from 55.3 in June.

Anything above 50 signals that manufacturing is growing.

New orders, production and employment at factories rose. Exports declined last month.

The U.S. economy has been showing renewed strength. Economic growth clocked in an impressive 4 percent annual pace from April through June after getting off to a bad start the first three months of the year. And employers added more than 200,000 jobs in July for the sixth straight month.