The Finance 202: Manufacturing slips as signs grow of softening Trump economy

[DonViejo]

By Tory Newmyer

June 4 at 7:24 AM

A key measure of U.S. manufacturing strength just slipped to its lowest level in two-and-a-half years, as pressures from President Trump weighed on the sector.

Add that to a pile of recent worrisome signals that the economy is headed for a slowdown, if not an outright recession, just as the 2020 presidential race starts to kick into higher gear. Trump is counting on the so-far rosy economic picture to boost his reelection chances even as warning signs grow that all is not as good as it appears.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard put a finer point on it in a Monday presentation opening the possibility of an interest rate cut later this year to jumpstart stalling growth. The central bank “faces an economy that is expected to grow more slowly going forward, with some risk that the slowdown could be sharper than expected due to ongoing global trade regime uncertainty,” he said.

Morgan Stanley economists predict the United States could tip into a recession within three quarters if the Trump administration makes good on threats to tax all incoming Chinese goods, and the Chinese retaliate. “My recent conversations with investors have reinforced the sense that markets are underestimating the impact of trade tensions,” Chetan Ahya, the bank’s chief economist, wrote in a Sunday note. “Investors are generally of the view that the trade dispute could drag on for longer, but they appear to be overlooking its potential impact on the global macro outlook.”

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-finance-202/2019/06/04/the-finance-202-manufacturing-slips-as-signs-grow-of-softening-trump-economy/5cf591b6a7a0a46b92a3ff83/

[Iliyah]

1. In my opinion, the USA is already in a "soft" recession

well at least for the working middle class.