Economic Clouds

The economy is the most important influence on presidential elections, and right now it is not looking terrific.  The Financial Times reports:

The Institute for Supply Management’s monthly manufacturing index slipped to 48.2 in December, marking the second month in a row that it had fallen below 50, the line between contraction and expansion. The reading was the weakest since June 2009 and marked the first time since the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis that the US manufacturing sector has seen consecutive contractions.

The result released on Monday highlights what has become a tale of two economies in the US. Despite the relatively robust headline figures for employment for the economy as a whole that led the Federal Reserve last month to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade many manufacturers complain that they are seeing what amounts to an industrial recession in the US.