Manufacturing continues to be one of the most important bellwethers regarding the health of the U.S. economy. The broader U.S. economy will not be able to grow robustly without a rebound in manufacturing. Faster real GDP growth is possible, but not until we get manufacturing humming along strongly once again.

Manufacturers contributed nearly $2.2 trillion to the U.S. economy in the most recent data, demonstrating how intertwined manufacturing firms are with the rest of the economy.

Read the full perspective at forbes.com.