By Steve Goldstein
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Chicago PMI rose to 53.7% in July from 52.9% in June, breaking a run of three straight drops as order backlogs improved. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a drop to a reading of 52.0%; any reading above 50% indicates growth. The order backlog index surged 10.6 points to 52.8%, though production fell 2.5 points to 54.5% and employment skidded 7.1 points to 53.3%. The Chicago PMI tends to be closely watched because it's released a day before the national Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index.
