It’s anybody’s guess what this means to Invista and other area manufacturers, but numbers aren’t encouraging. New orders at U.S. factories fell in December to the lowest rates in 60 years when the measures first were recorded, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Overall manufacturing activity dropped to its lowest rate since 1980. No sector reported growth. The drops were sharper in Japan, but were mirrored around the world, in Britain, the rest of Europe, China and India. This all means the recession is bound to extend well into this year.

Buckle up, gang.