[U.S. September ISM Manufacturing PMI Drops to 54.5, Price Index Rises to 77.9] The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) announced that the Manufacturing PMI for September was 54.5, down 0.1 percentage points from August's 54.6, marking the ninth consecutive month in the expansion range. Among the sub-indices, the New Orders Index rose to 55.3, the Employment Index increased to 52.7, the Price Index climbed from 71.1 to 77.9; the Production Index fell to 56.7, and the Inventory Index dropped to 48.6.