Re: Obamanomics
Any guesses as to how Debbie Wasserman Schultz will spin this one?
Via
Bloomberg:
Manufacturing in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted for a second month in July, showing a mainstay of the economy was struggling to improve as global economies weakened.
The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index was 49.8 last month, close to the three-year low of 49.7 reached in June. Fifty marks the dividing line between expansion and contraction. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a reading of 50.2, according to the median estimate.
Cutbacks in household purchases, unemployment exceeding 8 percent, Europe’s debt crisis and slower global growth threaten to further restrain an industry that’s been a source of strength for the economy. Factories may also temper production as companies curb spending out of concern that lawmakers will fail to prevent automatic government spending cuts and higher taxes from going into effect next year.
“There’s just an overall softening” in manufacturing, Brad Holcomb, chairman of the ISM survey, said on a conference call with reporters. “What we’re seeing now is a reflection of the overall state of the economy.”