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Title: Manufacturing in U.S. Expanded for Seventh Month in February
Source:
Bloomberg News
URL Source: http://www.bloomberg.com
Published: Mar 1, 2010
Author: Bob Willis
Post Date: 2010-03-01 10:18:04 by war
Keywords: None
Views: 800
Comments: 6
March 1 (Bloomberg) -- Manufacturing expanded in February for a seventh consecutive month, indicating factories are leading the U.S. economic recovery. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 56.5, lower than anticipated, from January’s 58.4, which was the highest since August 2004, figures from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed. Readings greater than 50 signal expansion. Measures of new orders and production declined, while a gauge of employment grew at the fastest pace in five years. Factories boosted production to replenish depleted inventories and invested in new equipment last year as global demand picked up following the worst recession in seven decades. The manufacturing revival may help lead to the job growth needed to propel consumer spending and the economy. “Manufacturing is the strongest sector of the economy,” Michael Moran, chief economist at Daiwa Securities America Inc. in New York, said before the report. “It’s being influenced a lot by the inventory adjustment. We need to see other areas strengthen” for the recovery to become self-sustaining, he said. The factory index compared with a median forecast of 57.9, according to 66 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 55 to 60.7. Manufacturing accounts for about 12 percent of the economy. Figures from the Commerce Department earlier today showed personal spending rose 0.5 percent in January after a 0.3 percent gain the prior month. Incomes increased 0.1 percent. The ISM’s production index fell to 58.4 from 66.2 and the new orders index decreased to 59.5 from 65.9. The employment index increased to 56.1, the highest since January 2005, from 53.3. Export Orders A gauge of export orders decreased to 56.5 from 58.5. China’s manufacturing grew at a slower pace in February, according to HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics. Their factory index fell to 55.8 from a January reading of 57.4. European manufacturing expanded for a fifth month in February. A factory index for the 16-nation euro region increased to 54.2, the highest since August 2007, from 52.4 in January, London-based Markit Economics said. The supplier delivery gauge, a measure of the time it takes to receive goods, rose to 61.1 from 60.1 the prior month. The measure of orders waiting to be filled increased to 61 from 56. The inventory index rose to 47.3 from 46.5. The index of prices paid fell to 67 from 70. Government stimulus efforts last year helped spark rebounds in the housing and automobile industries, two of the most depressed areas during the recession. After car sales surged mid-year on sales incentives, automakers are now boosting output to rebuild inventories. Automakers and Inventory Among carmakers rebuilding inventory, Chrysler Group LLC, the third largest U.S. automaker, produced 88,623 vehicles in January, compared with 39,315 a year earlier, according to company data. Factory orders have been increasing after companies pared inventories last year by a record $120 billion. Efforts to rebuild depleted stockpiles contributed 3.88 percentage points to a fourth-quarter growth rate of 5.9 percent that was the strongest in more than six years, the Commerce Department said last week. U.S. companies are also benefiting from the rebound in the global economy. General Electric Co., the world’s biggest maker of jet engines and locomotives, is expanding operations in China. Investment in equipment and software increased at an 18 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, the most since 2000, the Commerce Department said last week. Applied Materials Santa Clara, California-based Applied Materials Inc., the world’s largest producer of chipmaking equipment, forecast sales and profit that topped analysts’ estimates as semiconductor companies begin to increase orders. “What we have to see in the second half of the year is an expansion of capacity additions to a broader group of customers,” Chief Financial Officer George Davis said in an interview Feb. 17. “We’ve built some conservatism for our outlook. It won’t take much expansion for us to meet that outlook.” The economy still requires job growth to spur consumer spending, which is forecast to average 2 percent this year, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg last month. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Employers in February probably reduced payrolls by 50,000 workers after 20,000 job cuts the prior month, economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the government’s monthly payroll report will show March 5. Unemployment probably rose to 9.8 percent from 9.7 percent in January, according to the survey. Manufacturing employment increased 11,000 in January, the Labor Department said last month.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 6.
#2. To: All (#0)
This is REAL hiring...not temp...
WooooooooHoooooooooooo!
Cat's foot...iron claw... Neurosurgeons SCREAM for more...
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest...while a gauge of employment grew at the fastest pace in five years.
#4. To: war (#2)
his is REAL hiring...not temp...
#6. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#4)
Replies to Comment # 6.
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