U.S.factories picked up the pace a little in January from the 17-month low recorded in December,but there was no ringing endorsement of an imminent manufacturing expansion on the near-term horizon.PURCHASING magazine's latest survey of buyers shows national manufacturing activity rising to 55.4 in January from 52.9 in December on an index where a reading above 50 indicates the factory sector is growing.However,barely one-third of the buyers reported improved business- and the weakest region was the Midwest,the hub of heavy manufacturing.That meshes with the latest report from the National Association of Purchasing Management's Chicago business activity index,which shows manufacturing in the industrial heartland of the Midwest down to 61.
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