A release by Institute for Supply Management on Monday showed manufacturing activity in United States dropped to 36.2% in November, down 2.7% from October's reading of 38.9%. This is the lowest level for the index since May 1982. Economists had forecast a drop to 37% in November. A reading below 50 indicates a contraction in manufacturing activity while above 50 indicates expansion.

Index of new orders slipped to 27.9% in October, down 4.3% from a reading of 32.2% in October. It is the lowest level for new order index since June 1980.Petroleum & Coal Products was the sole industry which registered a rise in new orders during November.

Production Index plunged to 31.5% in November, a fall of 2.6% from 34.1% in October. Only one index- Paper Products reported an increase in the index.

Employment Index decreased by 0.4% to 34.6 in November compared to 34.6 in prior month. Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; and Miscellaneous Manufacturing registered increase in employment in November.
Order backlog dropped to 27 versus 29.5 in previous month.

New Export orders remained unchanged at 41%.

Inventories index stood at 39.1 in November, down 5.2% from October's reading of 44.3.

Prices Index declined sharply to 25.5% in November against 37% reported in previous month. This is the lowest reading for the prices index since May 1949 when it was at 20.1%. Apparel, Leather & Allied Products was the only industry in the month which paid higher prices.

Elsewhere, a release by UK's Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply’s factory index, showed manufacturing activity plunged to 34.4, the weakest since the data began in 1992. According to China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, manufacturing activity in China contracted sharply in China and purchasing managers index fell to 38.8 in November. 
Another data showed Russian manufacturing activity posted fourth straight monthly decline. VTB’s Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped to 39.8, its lowest level since the records began.

A separate release by Department of Commerce showed construction spending in US fell 1.2% in October, more than the 1% drop anticipated by Wall Street. September's construction spending was upwardly revised to unchanged.  Private residential construction fell 0.7% from September while private construction was down 3.2%.

US stocks retreated sharply after the release. Investors sold off stocks as data spurred fears of a severe and prolonged recession.

At 11:06 am ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 414.14 points or 4.69% to 8,414.87. Nasdaq Composite shrank 82.56 points or 5.38% while S&P 500 slipped 48.16 points or 5.37%.