The U.S. economy under pressure as the car sales drop

The U.S. economy under pressure as the car sales drop: Since the US auto sales were steadily rising, they have helped the country to recover economically, but now as the car sales drop and the economy is also under pressure. US carmakers have started to idle workers for months at a time.

Trump has touted the auto sector - which he previously lambasted for moving production to Mexico - as proof of his programme's success. "We're going to have expansion," he told reporters last week.

Following seven years of steady growth that led to sales records in 2015 and 2016, deliveries of new vehicles in the US dropped 4.7 per cent in April in one of the steepest declines since the 2008-09 recession. Analysts have cut their forecast for US sales, which are expected to fall for the first time since the financial crisis.

Earlier this year, in response to prodding and threats from Trump over their overseas operations,Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler announced plans to add jobs at their US facilities.