US manufacturers last month recorded their largest contraction in demand in more than six years as the strong dollar and low oil prices continued to drag on the economy. The Institute for Supply Management’s monthly manufacturing index slipped to 48.2 in December, marking the second month in a row that it had fallen below 50, the line between contraction and expansion. The reading was the weakest since June 2009 and marked the first time since the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis that the US manufacturing sector has seen consecutive contractions. The result released on Monday highlights what has become a tale of two economies in the US. Despite the relatively robust headline figures for employment for the economy as a whole that led the Federal Reserve last month to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade many manufacturers complain that they are seeing what amounts to an industrial recession in the US. The ISM reading also added to fears of a global slowdown emanating from China and Europe where manufacturing numbers released on Monday were equally grim. Only six of the 18 US industries surveyed by the ISM reported growth in December, with the majority of people surveyed noting weak orders and the continuing impact of low oil prices. The ISM’s manufacturing employment sub-index also tumbled in December as companies either stopped hiring or shed jobs to cope with the weak demand.