- Summary- Manufacturing PMI falls 1.9 points to 50.9 in September- New orders, employment measures contract- Price pressures at factories, supply bottlenecks easing- Construction spending falls 0.7% in AugustWASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing activity grew at its slowest pace in nearly 2-1/2 years in September as new orders contracted amid aggressive interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve to cool demand and tame inflation.Government data last Friday showed spending on long-lasting manufactured goods barely rising in August, while outlays on services picked up.Similar views were echoed by makers of computer and electronic products who reported that "supply chain issues for all electronic components and custom build-to-print materials are in short supply due to capacity and skilled labor shortages."There were 11.2 million unfilled jobs across the economy at the end of July, with two job openings for every unemployed worker."Employees may have simply voluntarily left manufacturing jobs in favor of other types of jobs," said Isfar Munir, an economist at Citigroup in New York."