splat. this isn't the final nail in the obamites' coffin, but it may be the first.
Manufacturing another headache for U.S. economy(Reuters) - Manufacturing shrank at its sharpest clip in more than three years last month, while separate data showed exports and hiring in the sector slumped in another shot to the country's struggling economy.
August was the third month in a row of contraction in manufacturing, and firms in the sector hired the fewest workers since late 2009, according to an Institute for Supply Management survey on Tuesday.
ISM's index of national factory activity fell to 49.6 in August, from 49.8 in July, and just shy of the 50.0 median estimate in a Reuters poll of economists. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the key sector
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