The national manufacturing sector continues to grow, but only at a slow pace in the face of ongoing challenges, according to a new survey from an industry trade group. The Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) released its quarterly Survey on the Business Outlook on Jan. 10. The survey’s composite index fell to 55 […]
The national manufacturing sector continues to grow, but only at a slow pace in the face of ongoing challenges, according to a new survey from an industry trade group.
The Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) released its quarterly Survey on the Business Outlook on Jan. 10. The survey’s composite index fell to 55 from 56 in the September survey.
But the indicator remains above 50, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector, according to MAPI. The one point drop is smaller than the five point slide in the September survey, the group noted.
“Movements in the individual indexes were mixed, but most of the forward looking indexes showed some, if marginal, improvement,” Donald Norman, MAPI senior economist and survey coordinator, said in a news release. “The rapid slowdown in the growth of manufacturing production that began in March 2012 appears to have bottomed out and the outlook is for slow expansion over the next three to six months.”
The composite index is a combination of individual indexes measuring indicators including shipments, inventory, and profit margins. Overall, six of the 13 individual indexes decreased, including four of six business condition indexes. One remained flat.
Five of seven forward looking indexes in the survey improved, MAPI said.
In a supplemental section, MAPI asked participants in the survey about prospects for bringing operations back to the U.S. from overseas.
More than 16 percent of respondents said they have returned some overseas operations to the U.S. in the last 24 months. All of the activity returned to existing plants, according to MAPI.
Among the operations that returned, 67 percent were relatively small in terms of investment and jobs, the group said. The primary reasons for bringing the operations back included a narrowing gap between the cost of labor in the U.S. and abroad, rising shipping costs, and the desire to reduce supply chain uncertainty.
The main reason for not returning operations to the U.S. was the need for a platform to sell into local markets overseas, according to MAPI.
