While the U.S. manufacturing downturn has dominated the news, conflicting analysis says the outlook isn't quite as pessimistic as it's being portrayed in the media. In fact, the manufacturing sector shows robust health with record output, sales, profits, return-on-equity, and record compensation. The New York Times points to a decline in manufacturing in May for the fourth consecutive month while inflation surged to the highest in four years. It also states that this year's manufacturing downturn is the worst since the period February to June 2003, and comes as the deepest housing slump since the depression has weakened the broader economy.
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