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 2/5/2018. 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:
"Manufacturing activity continued to expand solidly, even with the Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index edging down from 59.3 in December to 59.1 in January. New orders increased at their fastest pace in 13 years in December, but that expansion slowed a little in January, down from 67.4 to 65.4. Nonetheless, it was the eighth consecutive month that the sales measure exceeded 60, which would signify robust growth in demand overall. International growth helped fuel that demand, with exports (up from 57.6 to 59.8) expanding at their best pace since April 2011. Respondents in the sample comments tended to echo that finding, citing a brightened outlook and stronger U.S. and global sales growth. Among other things, tax reform and other pro-growth measures have helped boost confidence among business leaders in the sector.
Other data on manufacturing activity were also encouraging. For instance, new factory orders rose by 1.7 percent in December. For durable goods firms, much of the increase stemmed from sharply higher sales of defense and nondefense aircraft and parts, which can be highly volatile from month to month. Excluding transportation equipment, new orders of manufactured goods were up 0.7 percent in December. Overall, new factory orders—which struggled in 2015 and 2016—trended in the right direction in 2017. Indeed, sales of manufactured goods soared 8.4 percent since December 2016, or 6.6 percent with transportation equipment sales excluded.
On the labor front, manufacturers added 15,000 workers in January, extending the strong hiring gains in the sector seen throughout much of 2017. Manufacturing employment rose by 15,750 workers per month on average in 2017—quite a turnaround from the sluggish job growth experienced in 2016. Business leaders have told us that recruiting new workers is their primary business concern right now. Along those lines, average weekly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees in manufacturing have risen 2.8 percent over the past 12 months. Since the end of the Great Recession, manufacturing employment has risen by 1,102,000 workers, with 12.55 million employees in the sector in this report. That number represents the highest level of manufacturing employment since January 2009." Read Chad Moutray's Full Report Here.
