Peter explains in his recent podcast:

Manufacturing is a complete disaster. In fact, we got the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index later in the week. This was supposed to be -6.7. It came out at -1.6. And the prior month (which was originally reported as -10.5) was revised to -12.8." 

Peter is referring to the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index, which tracks changes in business activities like how many people are hired, the rate of new orders, and the prices businesses are paying and receiving for goods. 

A negative reading indicates contraction.

January's readings were dark:

This is the fifth consecutive month where this index has been negative but it's been negative for 18 out of the past 20 months. This is a massive manufacturing recession."

The sector is struggling far from its touted renaissance.

And it's not just the Philly data that shows this.

The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index plunged to -43.7 in January 2024.