Can somebody stand up on the bench and tell us when will this recession be over?

US markets have fallen after one of the first economic snapshots of September posted a surprise decline in output. The poor data came from the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM’s) business barometer for Chicago, which unexpectedly shrank this month.

The report overshadowed the earlier announcement that the US economy contracted less than previously estimated between April and June. Wall Street’s main Dow Jones index was down 88 points or 0.9% to 9,655. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq was 23 points or 1.1% lower to 2,101, and the S&P’s 500 had lost 12.5 points or 1.2% to 1,048.