US Manufacturing Orders at 60 Year Low, China Contracts 5th Straight Month

[girl gone mad]

Manufacturing is contracting in the US, Eurozone, Russia and China. Let's take a look starting with http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ar33MwWqPjdQ&refer=home">U.S. Manufacturing Shrinks as Orders Hit 60-Year Low:

The decline in U.S. manufacturing deepened in December as demand for such products as cars, appliances and furniture reached the lowest level since at least 1948, signaling further cutbacks in factory jobs and production this year.

The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 32.4, below economists’ forecasts and the lowest level since 1980, from 36.2 the prior month. Readings less than 50 signal contraction. The group’s new-orders measure reached the lowest level on record and prices slid the most since 1949.

The report also showed the impact of recessions abroad: the Tempe, Arizona-based ISM’s measure of exports fell to the lowest level since that series began in 1988.

Separate figures today showed business at European factories contracted in December by the most on record. Manufacturing declined in China for a fifth month in December, for an eighth month in the U.K., for a seventh month in Australia and at the fastest pace in at least 14 years in Sweden.

U.S. exports dropped in October for a third straight month, leading to an unexpected widening in the trade gap, figures from the Commerce Department last month showed. The drop indicated the economy was sinking even faster than previously estimated.

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/

[Trajan]

1. It used to be ....

That 'When GM sneezes, America catches a cold' ....

Now it is; 'When US families sneeze, China catches a cold ....'

You KNOW things are bad when American families cant even afford cheap, slave wage goods from China ....

Silly short sighted policies of the wealthy will kill their path to greater wealth .... AND the rest of us with them ...

[FreakinDJ]

2. No Economic Recovery for America without Manufacturing

Unless everyone is enjoying our Mad Rush towards 3rd world poverty, I would suggest you write into your lawmakers and ask them exactly what they are going to do to restore the manufacturing sector

[madrchsod]

3. what percentage of those products were made in the usa in 1948

and the percentage of those same products are no longer made in the usa?

we no longer manufacture the majority of our hard and soft goods. is it any wonder why our country is in deep trouble.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. And the markets are up up up.

go figure.

[unlawflcombatnt]

5. Chrysler shudders ALL plants for at least 1 month

from the original Bloomberg article:

"Chrysler idled all 30 of its assembly plants on Dec. 17 for at least a month"

This is the same Chrysler that received a huge taxpayer-funded bailout. And today Chrysler received an additional $4 billion of taxpayers' money. A lot of good that did.

Wasn't the bailout money supposed to save autoworkers' jobs???