Economy
PMA Members Predicting Decline in Business
Written by Sandy Williams
November 26, 2018
Metalforming firms are expecting a decline in business conditions and new orders during the next three months, according to the November 2018 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report. The PMA is a monthly economic indicator for manufacturing, sampling 122 metalforming companies in the United States and Canada.
Current average shipping levels were steady in November. Firms with a portion of their workforce on short time or layoff increased to 6 percent from 2 percent in October and just 1 percent in November of 2017.
“While metalforming companies have proven resilient in the face of steel and aluminum tariffs, longer lead times and price spikes for these essential commodities are beginning to hurt our members as reflected by the significant jump in survey respondents who are predicting a decline in business,” said PMA President Bill Gaskin. “This is the reason that PMA is active in Washington, D.C., and with local and national media outlets to educate the Trump administration and others about the damage that is being done to steel- and aluminum-using manufacturers. The Section 232 tariffs should be terminated as quickly as possible.”
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Economy
CRU: Will US tariff policy be transactional or transformational?
The Trump 1.0 tariffs appeared to have little positive effect on the US manufacturing, partly because they hurt export competitiveness.
Beige Book finds mixed demand trends, tariff concerns
Manufacturing activity exhibited slight to modest increases across a majority of districts. However, manufacturers expressed concerns over the potential impact of looming trade policy changes between late January and February.
Construction spending drops marginally in January
Construction spending edged down slightly in January, slipping for the first time in four months. The US Census Bureau estimated spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,196 billion in January, down 0.2% from December’s downward revised rate. The January figure is 3.3% higher than a year ago. January’s result, despite the slight erosion, […]
ISM: Manufacturing expansion slowed in February
The Manufacturing PMI registered 50.3% in February. That’s 0.6 percentage points lower compared to the 50.9% recorded in January.
Chicago Business Barometer up but still pointing to weak conditions
The Chicago Business Barometer rose to an eight-month high in February. Despite the recovery, the measure continues to indicate deteriorating business conditions, as it has for over a year.