Manufacturing shrinks: first time in three years

From Reuters.com:

U.S. manufacturing shrank in June for the first time in nearly three years as new orders plummeted, one measure of the sector that showed the starkest sign yet of the extent of the slowdown in the economy....

It was the first time since July 2009 that the index has fallen below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction. That was shortly after the U.S. economy emerged from recession.

Manufacturing has been one of the drivers of the U.S. economic recovery, which now appears to be losing momentum over fears about the euro zone's debt crisis, a slowdown in China and uncertainty over domestic fiscal policy.

-----------------
Link:  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/02/us-usa-economy-manufacturing-idUSBRE8610QT20120702