The October Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in the report indicates that both the overall economy and the manufacturing sector are growing at a slower rate, falling to its lowest level of growth since June 2003. There was, however, significant movement in most of the indexes as new orders and production continued to soften, while backlogs contracted for a second month. On the pricing front, the Prices Index fell 14 points signalling some relief for buyers for the first time in 15 months, and there were improvements in new export orders as the weaker dollar continues to support a strong export market.