A monthly survey by the University of North Florida’s Local Economic Indicators Project found activity contracting in July at Jacksonville-area manufacturers, with continued pessimism about future conditions.

A Purchasing Managers’ Index derived from the survey of manufacturing businesses in Northeast Florida was at 46.2 in July, lower than the 47.3 PMI in June.

A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the economy.

“Multiple subindexes, including new orders, new export orders, backlogs of work, input purchases, material inventories, and employment, registered well below 50, showing broad-based weakness in demand and production pipelines,” UNF economist Albert Loh said in his monthly report on the survey.

The survey’s Business Activity Outlook was at 42, “indicating that a significan

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