U.S. manufacturing stuck in a recession as S&P Global PMI contracts for eight of last nine months

The U.S. manufacturing sector is stuck in contraction.

Despite the White House touting tens of billions of dollars in corporate welfare, the industry is not seeing progress.

In July, the S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) clocked in at 49, up from 46.3 in June, and better than the consensus estimate of 46.2. Anything below 50 indicates contraction.

This sector measurement has been in contraction territory for eight of the last nine months.

Despite the improvement, there was a deterioration in operating conditions, unchanged output levels, a drop in new orders, a decline in input buying, and weaker demand. There was an improvement in supplier delivery times, but this was because of sliding demand.

Manufacturing accounts for only 11 percent of the U.S. economy. But for an administration whose bread and butter is manufacturing, these are disappointing numbers.

Meanwhile, the services and composite PMIs slipped to 52.4 and 52, respectively.