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U.S. manufacturing activity expanded at the slowest pace in a year in February as weaker growth abroad limited orders for American-made products, the Institute for Supply Management reported.

West Coast dockworkers and their employers reached a five-year contract deal Feb. 20, averting a shutdown of 29 ports that could have cost the U.S. economy $2 billion a day, Labor Secretary Tom Perez said.

West Coast ports that were closed to incoming cargo over the holiday weekend reopened Feb. 17.

President Obama’s administration took the first step to opening the skies above the United States to widespread civilian drone flights while proposing strict limits on commercial operations, including the use of drones as a delivery vehicle.

Congressional Republicans achieved an elusive legislative goal Feb. 11, sending a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline to President Obama.

U.S. factories expanded at the weakest pace in a year in January as orders cooled, a sign weakness in overseas markets is restraining U.S. manufacturing, the Institute for Supply Management said.

Construction spending rose 0.4% in December to a seasonally adjusted $982 billion annual rate, the Commerce Department reported Feb. 2.

Oil climbed to over $50 a barrel Monday as workers at some of the nation’s refineries began strike action.

Crude oil surged the most in more than 2 1/2 years Jan. 14 after falling to the lowest since 2009.