Manufacturing stateside is slipping again after an encouraging start to 2016.
Markit Economics' flash U.S. manufacturing purchasing manager's index for February came in at 51, the lowest since October 2012.
On a seasonally-adjusted basis, however, that's the lowest reading since September 2009, when the recovery in the U.S. was starting to take shape.
Economists had forecast that the preliminary reading was 52.5 according to Bloomberg, up just a bit from the prior reading of 52.4. But this reading was a big miss, as weak demand continued to crimp the sector.
Diving into the details, manufacturing output growth slowed, while order backlogs were the weakest since September 2009. Factory gate prices fell at the fastest pace since June 2012.
Because of the strong dollar, export sales slowed at the biggest pace since April 2015.
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