The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) gauges the strength of U.S. manufacturing, and it just revealed some troubling numbers from last month.
Manufacturing is at its lowest since the Great Recession. Export orders have plummeted as a result of President Donald Trump's trade war with China, with ISM's manufacturing index showing a drop to 47.8%. Experts predicted new growth at 50.2% (any number above 50% indicates growth) only to be met with the sixth straight month of decline and the second straight month of outright reduction.
Though Trump's tariffs against China are widely believed to be the culprit of the unexpected drop, Trump tweeted that the real cause was the strength of the U.S. dollar and the ineptitude of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome "Jay" Powell, a Trump appointee and frequent target of the President's Twitter tirades.
Trump claims the Fed hurt factory production by not cutting interest rates as radically as Trump previously called for, allowing the dollar to strengthen.
Experts worry that the decline in manufacturing is yet another indicator of an impending recession.
Torsten Slok, Chief Economist at Deutsche Bank Securities told Politico:
“There is no end in sight to this slowdown. The recession risk is real.”
Trump may be trying to divert the blame, but Americans see the writing on the wall.
Besides, who appointed Jay Powell again?
After the ISM news, the Dow has fallen by 276 points and counting.
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