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 (on Tuesday) from NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray for 10/10/2017. 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:
"Manufacturers lost 1,000 workers in September, with the overall jobs numbers negatively impacted by damaging hurricanes in the month. In addition, the July and August data were revised lower, subtracting 32,000 from prior manufacturing job growth estimates. Despite the disappointing figures in September, the reduced hiring is likely a temporary phenomenon, with employment expectations continuing to be very strong overall. Indeed, manufacturers have accelerated the pace of hiring since December, adding 122,000 workers on net over that 10-month time frame. That is a definite improvement following the loss of 16,000 workers seen in 2016 as a whole, and it was another sign that firms have stepped up their hiring as a result of a stronger economic outlook and increased demand and production activity...
...Moreover, new factory orders bounced back somewhat in August, up 1.2 percent in August after falling by 3.3 percent in July. New orders of manufactured goods increased from $466.2 billion in July to $471.7 billion in August. It was only the second increase over the past five months, illustrating some choppiness in the data since the spring. Much of that volatility has come from large swings from month to month in the nondefense aircraft and parts sector, but motor vehicle sales have also been quite soft year-to-date. Excluding transportation, new orders were up 0.4 percent from $392.4 billion to $394.1 billion in this report. Overall, new factory orders—which have struggled mightily over the past couple years—have largely trended in the right direction more recently, up 5.7 percent since August 2016. Excluding transportation, the gains were somewhat larger, up 6.2 percent year-over-year."
Read Chad Moutray's Full Report Here.
