- The index for December was 46.2 , down from 47.7 in November and solidly below 50, which signals that the sector is contracting, according to the S&P Global report released Tuesday.
- In addition to production levels contracted in consecutive months, new sales plummeting at the end of December at the fastest pace since 2007, as companies cited weakening demand amid “economic uncertainty” and inflation weighing on customers.
- “New orders are collapsing and cannot sustain current output levels,” Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni said. “Instead, manufacturers have been expanding employment to work through their backlog of unfilled orders. They were running on fumes and with that gone, the layoffs are around the corner. That means unemployment and recession.
