The latest information on manufacturing and the economy from the National Association of Manufactures and the Council of Industry
Members:
Here is theMonday Manufacturing Economy Report from NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray for 4/23/2018. 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:
"Real GDP grew 2.9 percent at the annual rate in the fourth quarter, boosted by strength in consumer and business spending but weighed down by inventory spending and net exports. According to new data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, manufacturing added 0.60 percentage points to top-line growth in the fourth quarter. Manufacturing value-added output rose to $2.300 trillion in the fourth quarter, a new all-time high. Adjusting for inflation, a new all-time high also occurred for real value-added output in manufacturing, which increased to $1.984 trillion in the fourth quarter and is in chained 2009 dollars (to adjust for inflation). Overall, manufacturing accounted for 11.6 percent of real GDP in the fourth quarter, up from 11.5 percent in the prior report.
More recently, manufacturing productionedged up 0.1 percent in March, extending ever so slightly the robust gain of 1.5 percent in February. The data continue to show healthy growth for manufacturers, especially relative to one year ago. Indeed, manufacturing production has risen 3.0 percent over the past 12 months, up from 2.5 percent last month and the best year-over-year rate since June 2012. With that said, manufacturing capacity utilization inched down from 76.0 percent in February—a reading not seen since August 2015—to 75.9 percent in March. At the same time, total industrial production rose 0.5 percent in March. Over the past 12 months, industrial production has risen 4.3 percent, pulling back marginally from the 4.4 percent pace in February, which was the best since January 2011. In addition, capacity utilization ticked up to 78.0 percent in March, the strongest rate in three years.
The data also remained encouraging at the regional level, with healthy expansions in manufacturing activity recorded in the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank districts in April. Manufacturing leaders continued to be positive about activity over the next six months, with signs of continued tightening in the labor market, both for hiring and regarding the length of the average workweek" Read Chad Moutray's Full Report Here.
