The latest information on manufacturing and the economy from the National Association of Manufactures and the Council of Industry
Members:
Here is the Monday Manufacturing Economy Report from NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray for 3/5/2018. The Council of Industry, as member organization of the National Association of Manufacturers is happy to share this report with our members.
Here are some highlights from the report:
"There were more encouraging signs for manufacturers last week in the economic data. For instance, the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 60.8 in February, the highest level since May 2004. Given the strength of that headline figure, it should not be a surprise that many of the underlying data points are near or exceed 60, including new orders, production, employment and exports. These surveys cited optimism in the outlook for the next six months.
New durable goods orders have generally trended in the right direction over the course of the past 12 months. In fact, new durable goods orders have soared 6.8 percent since December 2016. Nonetheless, new durable goods orders fell 3.7 percent in January following two months of solid gains in both November and December. The decline in the latest data stemmed largely from significant decreases in defense and non-defense aircraft and parts sales, which can be highly volatile from month to month. Excluding transportation equipment, new durable goods orders edged down 0.3 percent in January, falling (ever-so-slightly) for the first time since June. As such, broader activity in the durable goods sector started 2018 on a soft note.
At the same time, the sentiment surveys out last week also continued to note accelerating input costs, with indices for raw material prices soaring to multiyear highs. In the Richmond Fed report, respondents said that they expect raw material prices to grow by 2.69 percent at the annual rate six months from now, up from 2.33 percent in the prior survey. That is the highest expected growth rate for inflation since May 2013." Read Chad Moutray's Full Report Here.
