--US NAPM June index at 44.7 vs May's 42.1
--US NAPM June employment index at 36.3 vs May's 35.0
--US NAPM June inventory index 40.8 vs May's 38.7
--US NAPM June price index at 42.3 vs May's 45.2
--US NAPM June new orders index 48.6 vs May's 45.5
--US NAPM June production index 46.2 vs May's 42.7
--US NAPM June new export orders index 45.5 vs May's 45.6
--US NAPM June import index 48.0 vs May's 46.6

New York, July 2 (BridgeNews) - A key barometer of the health of the U.S. manufacturing economy rose in June, indicating that growth in the sector remains sluggish but showed an improvement from the previous month. The National Association of Purchasing Management said its index of economic activity rose to 44.7 in June from 42.1 in May. The May level was above 42.5 that economists had forecast.
June marked the eleventh month the main index stood below the 50.0 boom-or-bust level, showing that the manufacturing sector continues to contract. A reading above 50 indicates the manufacturing economy is generally expanding and a reading below 50 signals it is generally contracting.
In addition, NAPM has said that a reading below 42.7, over a period of time, indicates that the economy is contracting in general.
The NAPM said the manufacturing sector's employment component rose to 36.3 from 35.0 in May, while the inventory index rose to 40.8 from 38.7 in May.
The level for the employment index is well below what the NAPM considers as indicating growth in manufacturing employment. The NAPM has said that a reading of 47.5 for the employment index, over time, is generally in line with a rise in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data on manufacturing employment.
The NAPM said the manufacturing index's price component, which measures how much producers pay for materials, fell to 42.3 in June from 45.2 in May.
Meanwhile, new orders and production stood at 48.6 and 46.2, respectively.
In May, the new orders index was at 45.5, while the production index was at 42.7.
The imports index was at 48.0 in June, up from 46.6 in May, while exports were at 45.5, compared with 45.6 the previous month.