The Commerce Department has announced that factory orders in the United States have declined in September, making it the second month in a row that orders have gone down. Energy companies slashing costs and budgets, as well as a strengthening dollar, have led to the decline in manufacturing and in American exports.

The only current light in the manufacturing tunnel seems to be auto manufacturing, according to Reuters. Auto sales were up in October a whopping 11.4 percent, which is the most cars sold in the country in one month since 2001. The Commerce Department announced that orders for American-made manufactured goods was down 1.0 percent in September. Factory orders had seen a previous decline in August of 2.1 percent.

Manufacturing comprises a healthy 12 percent of the economy, but has remained stagnant for months. Businesses right now are not focused on growth, expansion, or production. All American business seems focused on at the moment is reducing their inventories. While demand at home remains somewhat slow, demand around the rest of the world had nearly come to a complete halt.

There does seem some hope, though. Early reports are that October’s numbers for factory orders look rather good and may even see their first rise since July. The multinational companies as well as exporters have been hampered for over a year by a strong dollar overseas. Since June 2014, the dollar has gained 16.8 percent against the major currencies of the world especially those used by the country’s leading partners in trade.

While vehicle production was up, aircraft production was down for September as orders for transportation equipment fell 3.1 percent in September. The signs for a manufacturing pick up look good, however. Inventories fell 0.4 percent in September which followed a similar decline from August. Also, unfilled orders at the nation’s factories were down in September. Manufacturers also reported that the portion of customers believing inventories were still too high also declined for September.