Economy

March PMA Report Shows Business Uncertainty

March 31, 2019

The latest survey of metalforming companies by the Precision Metalforming Association revealed uncertainty about business activity during the next three months. A survey of 110 firms, in the March 2019 PMA Business Conditions Report, showed 37 percent expect improving business conditions during the period, 49 percent anticipate no change, and 14 percent expect business activity to decline.

“PMA’s latest report shows more members are optimistic about improving economic conditions over the next several months, which is a good sign,” said PMA President David Klotz. “However, the percentage of members who expect a decline in economic activity, while still a relatively small portion of respondents, doubled last month. We will need to gather more data over the next several months to determine a trend, but what we do know is that our members are still facing headwinds because of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. PMA will continue to advocate in Washington, D.C., to remove this tax on manufacturers as soon as possible.”

Half of the firms surveyed expect incoming orders to rise during the next three months, compared to 38 percent in February. The no-change category rose to 38 percent from 54 percent and 12 percent of participants expect a decrease in orders compared to 8 percent last month.

Average daily shipping levels improved slightly in March with 36 percent of participants reporting levels above those of three months ago, compared to 28 percent in February.

Eight percent of metalforming companies reported having workers on short time or layoff in March, up from 6 percent in February and 3 percent a year ago.