Despite a seemingly uneven recovery from the pandemic, U.S. manufacturing posted a 15-month high-water mark in July.
On Aug. 3, the Institute for Supply Management released its topline manufacturing measure known as the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). The benchmark exceeded expectations by posting a reading of 54.2 in July. Figures above 50 point to growth and an expanding economy. Those below that threshold signal contraction.
“The PMI signaled a continued rebuilding of economic activity in July and reached its highest level of expansion since March 2019, when the index registered 54.6 percent. Four of the big six industry sectors expanded. The New Orders and Production indexes returned to strong expansion levels,” ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee Timothy Fiore reported. “The Supplier Deliveries Index remained at a more normal level of tension between supply and demand. Seven of the 10 sub-indexes registered expansion, up from five in June.”
China published numbers that also indicated manufacturing growth. Economists and world leaders remain skeptical of such reports, that are often heavily influenced by the Chinese Communist Party. Japan’s economy reportedly contracted at a 2.2 percent pace from January through March. The U.S. contracted by 5.5 percent during that period as well. Those months align with the toughest of the pandemic.
While economists raise concerns that outbreaks could cause disruption and uneven recovery, the White House vigilantly supports America First policies and hirings. President Donald Trump recently ripped into the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) over a plan to outsource 20 percent of its technology jobs to foreigners while the U.S. unemployment rate still hovers at 11.5 percent. The president fired two federal board members and instructed those who survived his wrath to terminate the organization’s president who earned an obscene 8.1 million last year alone.
“We believe jobs must be offered to American workers first,” Trump said after signing a Hiring American executive order. “So, let this serve as a warning to any federally appointed board. If you betray American workers, then you will hear two simple words, ‘You’re fired. You’re fired.’”
The White House executive order mandates organizations to prioritize American workers before resorting to outsourcing. Companies such as Google, among others, have complained to the Trump Administration that they prefer to hire foreign tech workers. Hiring from aboard using HB-1 visas undercuts U.S. workers and stifles wage growth. The recent moves by the president have restricted the ability of corporations to import cheap labor.
On another America First policy front, the Trump Administration has fought tough and nails to wrestle manufacturing opportunities away from communist China. Years of poor trade deals and import-export deficits reduced opportunities for everyday workers as good-paying jobs were shipped overseas. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that U.S. exports surged by 9.4 percent in June while reliance on imports slowed to 4.7 percent growth. The country saw its trade deficit slimmed by another 5.7 percent to $50.7 billion.
