Manufacturing growth has historically been the "canary in the coal mine" for economic trends. The question is what a dead canary means today - because manufacturing is flirting with contraction.
One reason to question manufacturing's canary role is that its contribution to GDP has declined from 14.5 % in 2000 to less than 11.5 % in 2018.
Manufacturing employment has declined from 13% of total employment in 2000 to less than 9% today.
And the percent contribution to total compensation to employees for manufacturing has declined from over 15% in 2000 to just over 10%