Manufacturing flat in July as exports keep growing

U.S. manufacturers' business was flat in July, as higher prices and tight credit kept them from expanding, but exports propped them up.

The Institute for Supply Management said its reading of activity from the country's producers of cars, airplanes, appliances and food hit 50, down from 50.2 in June.

That beat economists' prediction of a reading of 49.2, according to the consensus estimate of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson Financial/IFR. A reading above 50 signals growth.

The report has been hovering near 50, which economists call "the boom-bust line," for the last 12 months.

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