The pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector picked up for the first time in four months in June, a sign of optimism for the sputtering economy, according to an industry report released on Friday.

U.S. consumer sentiment worsened in June on jitters about the economic outlook and spending is likely to remain lackluster in the long-term, a survey released on Friday showed.

COMMENTS:

ROBERT BRUSCA, CHIEF ECONOMIST, FACT AND OPINION ECONOMICS, NEW YORK

It's too soon to say whether the soft patch is over. We had such a big drop last month. We are just seeing some of the retracement. This takes some of the sting out of last month's drop.

PIERRE ELLIS, SENIOR ECONOMIST, DECISION ECONOMICS, NEW YORK

It's not bad news, but it's odd in that virtually the entire increase was driven by a rise inventories. The absence of strength in new orders does not promote confidence.

There's no outright bad news here. Employment got firmer and that's encouraging. The report indicates that the weakness that showed up in the Empire State and Philadelphia Fed surveys was purely regional.

The Fed can breathe a sigh of relief, but there's still reason for nervousness on the outlook.

Manufacturing