Reuters reports:

A slowdown in U.S. manufacturing is hitting jobs in states that flipped to Donald Trump in the 2016 election and that will be key to the Republican president’s re-election prospects in 2020.

Trump is telling voters across the country that the economy is booming and jobs are growing. But the blow to factory employment is more pronounced in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin than in the rest of the country.

While the overall U.S. economy is still growing at a healthy clip thanks to robust consumer spending, the weakness in the manufacturing-dependent areas that helped propel Trump to the White House could complicate his prospects in the November 2020 election.

Following is a look at how the manufacturing downturn is playing out in a number of states that could decide whether Trump gets a second term as president. [Continue reading…]