In June, U.S. manufacturing hiring hit the weakest levels in almost four years.

“Unfortunately on the employment side, they are not hiring,” President of Naroff Economic Advisors Joel Naroff told Reuters. “That’s not a good sign. The employment issue is key. If those jobs are not there, you are not going to get consumer demand.”

The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) index showed manufacturing production grew modestly, but employment fell to the lowest level since September 2009–further evidence of the much-discussion jobless recovery.

In May, U.S. manufacturing hit a wall that surprised analysts, contracting to its lowest output levels in four years.