U.S. manufacturing reached its lowest point since the start of the pandemic, according to a report released just as President Joe Biden embarked on a tour of U.S. factories to tout his promise to boost the industry.
On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index reached its lowest point, 46.3, since May 2020, Reuters reported. Excluding the pandemic recession, the index, known as PMI, was at its lowest point since 2009.
PMI is a tool for identifying economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors based on business conditions at hundreds of major companies. A PMI below 50 indicates decline.
Twenty-five percent of manufacturing gross domestic product had a PMI indicating decline in March, compared with 10 percent in February, according to ISM official Timothy Fiore.
On Monday, Biden began his "Investing in America" tour of factories nationwide to promote his administration’s vision for job creation and a clean energy economy.
The Biden administration has made its taxpayer-funded push to build a "clean energy economy" a central part of its plan to boost U.S. manufacturing. But critics have questioned the billions of dollars invested in green energy companies, which have enriched left-wing billionaire megadonors to the Democratic Party along with Chinese manufacturers that source materials for the firms.