GRIMNESS, INC. – AT 8:51 A.M. ET:  President Obama speaks to the nation next week about the economy.  He won't have any great numbers to hold up.  The news continues grim.  Now even manufacturing, which had been a bit of a bright spot, is starting to show tarnish.  From Bloomberg:

U.S. manufacturing probably shrank in August for the first time in two years, raising the risk the slowing recovery may lose one of its biggest sources of strength, economists said before a report today.

The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index fell to 48.5 last month from 50.9 in July, according to the median estimate of 80 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 50, a level that the gauge last fell below in July 2009.

Slower global growth, volatile financial markets and the debate over government budgets around the world have clouded the outlooks of corporations and consumers. Manufacturers like La-Z- Boy Inc. and Toro Co. (TTC) are gauging the strength of demand as unemployment holds above 9 percent and companies delay expansion plans.

 “Manufacturers have taken a step back and are in kind of a wait-and-see mode right now,” said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York. “Before they rush ahead or proceed with longer-range projects, they want to get a clearer assessment of where they and the rest of the world think the economy is headed.”

The jobless report has just been issued, indicating 409,000 jobless claims last week.  Any number above 400,000 is considered very bad.

The combination of factors do not point to a strong 2012, which President Obama would need to ward off the moving vans.  But, then, the Republicans can mess things up.  They practice all the time.

September 1, 2011