Month: February 2012
Manufacturing Helping Drive The US Economy.
Factory Output Increases 0.7 Percent In January.
Bloomberg News (2/16, Willis) reports, “Factories in the US boosted production in January, capping the biggest back-to-back increases in more than two years, showing manufacturing will remain at the forefront of the expansion.”
The AP (2/16) reports, “The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that manufacturing production increased 0.7 percent in January. And output soared 1.5 percent in December, according to an upward revision.” That is the largest one-month gain since December 2006.
IndustryWeek (2/16) reports, “The production of durable goods advanced 1.8% in January with output of motor vehicles and parts increasing 6.8% following an upwardly revised increase of 3.8% in December. In January, gains of more than 1% were recorded for fabricated metal products; machinery; computer and electronic products; electrical equipment, appliances, and components; furniture and related products; and miscellaneous manufacturing. The output of aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment edged up 0.1%, while production decreased for wood products, nonmetallic mineral products, and primary metals.”
BBC News (2/16) reports, “Economists say the manufacturing figures are further evidence
that the US economy is picking up. ‘Some encouragement can be taken from the sharp upward revision to the performance in December, which underscores the turnaround in US economic fortunes in recent months.’ said Millan Mulraine, from TD Securities in New York.”
Also covering the story are the Wall Street Journal (2/16, Madigan), Reuters (2/16), the UK’s Daily Telegraph (2/16, Rowley), the Financial Times (2/15, Raval, Subscription Publication) and other media sources.
Manufacturing In The New York Region Expanded In February.
Bloomberg News (2/16, Kowalski) reports, “Manufacturing in the New York region expanded in February at the fastest pace since June 2010, a sign factories are propelling the expansion. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index increased to 19.5 this month from 13.5 in January.”
The Central New York Business Journal (2/16, Seltzer) reports, “Among survey respondents, 31.6 percent said conditions improved in February, while 12.1 percent said they worsened. The remaining 56.3 percent of respondents said conditions remained the same as in January.”
The Albany Business Review (2/16, Subscription Publication) reports, “The survey also showed that the new orders index, at 9.7, was positive but down slightly, and the shipments index was little changed at 22.8. The prices paid index held steady at 25.9, while the prices received index fell eight points to 15.3, suggesting that selling prices rose at a slower pace.”
Reuters (2/16, Schnurr) also covers the story.
Manufacturing Helping Drive The US Economy.
The AP (2/16) reports, “Manufacturers have been hiring more consistently than other employers, for jobs with better-than-average pay. They just had their best month of growth in five years.” No one believes “manufacturing will return to its 1950s peak. After all, the factory sector now makes up barely one-tenth of the economy.” However, “since the recession ended more than 2½ years ago, factories have been contributing disproportionately to the recovery in hiring and the overall economy.”
From SME Daily Executive Briefing 2/16/2012
Factory Orders Jump 1.1% as Businesses Invest in Heavy Machinery
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to factories rose in December, supported by a rebound in business investment in capital goods. In addition, service companies grew at the fastest pace in 11 months in January as companies started hiring to keep up with rising demand.
Factory orders rose 1.1 percent in December after gaining 2.2 percent in November, the Commerce Department reported Friday. For the year, total orders were up 12.1 percent after a gain of 12.9 percent in 2010. Orders had plunged 22.1 percent in the 2009.
For December, orders for so-called core capital goods, which are viewed as a good measure of business investment plans, rose 3.1 percent to a record high. That gain was driven in part by a rush by businesses to take advantage of expiring tax breaks.
The advances in 2011 pushed orders for the year up to $5.36 trillion, still slightly below the peak of $5.44 trillion set in 2008.
For December, orders for durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, rose 3 percent, a figure that was unchanged from a preliminary report last week. Orders for nondurable goods slipped 0.4 percent, reflecting declines in petroleum products.
The orders category that signals business investment plans, nonmilitary capital goods excluding aircraft, climbed to a high of $68.9 billion in December.
While some of that surge most likely reflected a rush to order before investment tax breaks expired at the end of last year, many economists say they believe the boom in spending on new equipment will continue even without the tax breaks because there is a large amount of pent-up demand on the part of businesses to modernize their operations.
Separately, the Institute for Supply Management said on Friday that its index of nonmanufacturing activity jumped to 56.8 percent in January from 53 percent in December. The survey’s employment index soared to its highest level since February 2006. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion.
The trade group of purchasing managers surveys businesses, including restaurants, hotels, retailers, financial services firms and construction companies. The service sector employs nine out of 10 American workers.
Nearly every component of the I.S.M. index suggested that business for nonmanufacturing companies was picking up. Companies said business activity, new orders, exports and imports all rose. Inventories shrank more quickly, indicating solid sales, and deliveries from suppliers slowed down.
Economists say the service sector received a boost from strong new orders the previous month. In January, new orders grew for the fourth consecutive month, at the fastest pace since last March.
The report “provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is strengthening,” Paul Dales, senior United States economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note to clients. But he warned that the economic momentum might fade quickly, as it did after strong starts to 2010 and 2011.
“As the unwinding of the previous fiscal stimulus starts to bite and as global demand falters, something similar may be on the cards this year,” he said.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 3, 2012
ECONOMIC NEWS
Economy Created 243,000 Jobs In January; Unemployment Drops To 8.3 Percent.
The CBS Evening News (2/3, lead story, 3:45, Pelley) reported on “a big improvement in the unemployment picture. The Labor Department reported today that the jobless rate in January fell 0.2% to 8.3%, the lowest in three years. And the economy created 243,000 jobs. That’s a lot more than economists or Wall Street were expecting.”
NBC Nightly News (2/3, story 2, 2:20, Holt) reported, “The jobs report for January out this morning blew past everyone’s expectations. … Wall Street responded with a surge of its own, the Dow up 156 points to its highest close since May 2008 before the economic meltdown, and Nasdaq hit an 11-year high.”
The AP (2/3) reported, “In the most impressive surge for the job market since early last year, the United States added 243,000 jobs in January, far more than economists expected. … Hiring accelerated across the economy and up and down the pay scale. The high-salary professional services industry added 70,000 jobs, the most in 10 months. Manufacturing added 50,000, the most in a year.”
Bloomberg News (2/4, Willis, Miller) reported that the “labor market recovery is broadening as industries from construction to retail to manufacturing added workers in January.”
The New York Times (2/4, Rich, Subscription Publication) reported, “Measured by both the unemployment rate and the number of jobless — which fell to 12.8 million — it was the strongest signal yet that an economic recovery was spreading to the jobs market.”
The Washington Post (2/4, Whoriskey) reported the President “seized on the numbers as proof that the nation’s economic recovery ‘is speeding up.'”
The Wall Street Journal (2/4, Dougherty, Subscription Publication) reported job growth was at its fastest rate since April 2011, and unemployment was down for the fifth consecutive month.
The Los Angeles Times (2/4, Lee) reported, “Some economists called the latest employment report a game-changer that signaled better times ahead for American workers,” but “many others were cautious in their assessment, noting that job growth was inflated by the unseasonably warm weather — construction reported sizable gains, for instance — and that the outlook remains constrained by government budget cuts, financially strapped consumers and a slowing global economy.”
From SME Daily Executive Briefing 2/6/2012
US Manufacturing Activity Grew In January.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (2/2, Barrett) reports, “Boosted by an increase in new orders, the production at US factories grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months.”
Bloomberg News (2/2) reports, “The Institute for Supply Management’s index climbed to 54.1, from 53.1 in December, the Tempe, Arizona-based group’s report showed” Wednesday. “The ISM’s new orders measure climbed to 57.6, the highest since April, from 54.8, and the gauge of export orders rose.” Bloomberg News notes, “Manufacturing accounts for about 12 percent of the economy and was at the forefront of the recovery that began in June 2009.”
The AP (2/2, Rugaber) reports, “Consumers are buying more cars and trucks, while businesses ordered more machinery and other equipment. That has driven manufacturing, which expanded for the 30th straight month.”
The Hill (2/1, Needham) “On The Money” blog reported, “Export orders also rose, a sign that US manufacturers haven’t yet been affected by Europe’s slowing economy. Meanwhile, a separate report from the Commerce Department showed that construction spending increased 1.5 percent in December, the fifth straight monthly gain. That pushed spending to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $816.4 billion, the highest level in 20 months.”
Also covering the story are Reuters (2/2, Schnurr), MarketWatch (2/2, Bartash), AFP (2/2), IndustryWeek (2/2) and other media sources.
Manufacturing Growth In Canada Slows Sharply In January. Canada’s Financial Post (2/2) reports, “Canadian manufacturing growth slowed markedly in January, data contained in the Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index showed” yesterday. “‘The headline RBC PMI – a composite indicator designed to provide a single-figure snapshot of the health of the manufacturing sector – registered 50.6 in January, down sharply from 54.0 in December, and indicated the weakest improvement in Canadian manufacturing business conditions since data collection began in October 2010,’ said the report, compiled in association with financial services company Markit.” The Post reports, “While the survey found that manufacturing conditions did improve in January, rates of expansion in output and new order growth were the weakest since data collection began.”
Reuters (2/2, Cook), Dow Jones Newswires (2/2, Menon, Subscription Publication) and other media sources also cover the story.
From SME Daily Executive Briefing 2/2/2012
First Report: World of Concrete 2012
Annual concrete extravaganza generates good numbers and strong expectations.
Official attendance numbers have not been released yet for World of Concrete 2012, which ends its run today in Las Vegas, but initial estimates of both show promoters and exhibitors peg attendee figures at up to 50,000. More important than the base numbers however, were the uniform reports from exhibitors of stronger business activity at the show, with more orders being written this year and a much more confident mood heading into the 2012 construction cycle.
Read full article by clicking HERE.
4 Rolls Plate Bending Machine with CNC Control
Tank making with a 4 rolls MG plate bending machine with CNC control.