GDP in Balance
As the world’s largest economy, attention is rightly focused on U.S. economic growth and gross domestic product (GDP). Now with additional attention on the country’s “fiscal cliff” — or gradual fiscal slide depending on the severity of economist projections — concern is growing that U.S. GDP will decline sharply in early 2013 and reverberate worldwide. Unfortunately, the timing of this occurs on top of better-than-expected U.S. GDP growth in the third quarter of 2% (second quarter to the third quarter), according to a U.S. Bureau of Economic [...]
Investing for the Future
With the year half over, many organizations are reevaluating their investment plans. Are sales strong enough to justify new equipment or information technology? Will continuing uncertainty in Europe temper enthusiasm for new commitments? At times like this, it’s helpful to know what competitors are thinking. U.S. and international manufacturing plant executives reported 2011 spending on capital equipment at 5% of sales (median) and 8.7% (average); spending on information technology was 1% of sales (median) and 4.3% (average) in 2011. Perhaps [...]
Hiring? Think Safety
U.S. factory employment rose 470,000 from January 2010 to March 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with manufacturers adding 37,000 persons in March. Top hires were at motor vehicles and parts companies (more than 12,000) and machinery companies (more than 7,000).[1] Manufacturers are staffing up because orders are rising, and management is increasingly feeling the constraint of underemployment as they try to hit their output numbers. But increasing output should not be the first order of business [...]
GDP in Balance
As the world’s largest economy, attention is rightly focused on U.S. economic growth and gross domestic product (GDP). Now with additional attention on the country’s “fiscal cliff” — or gradual fiscal slide depending on the severity of economist projections — concern is growing that U.S. GDP will decline sharply in early 2013 and reverberate worldwide. Unfortunately, the timing of this occurs on top of better-than-expected U.S. GDP growth in the third quarter of 2% (second quarter to the third quarter), according to a U.S. Bureau of Economic [...]
Investing for the Future
With the year half over, many organizations are reevaluating their investment plans. Are sales strong enough to justify new equipment or information technology? Will continuing uncertainty in Europe temper enthusiasm for new commitments? At times like this, it’s helpful to know what competitors are thinking. U.S. and international manufacturing plant executives reported 2011 spending on capital equipment at 5% of sales (median) and 8.7% (average); spending on information technology was 1% of sales (median) and 4.3% (average) in 2011. Perhaps [...]
Hiring? Think Safety
U.S. factory employment rose 470,000 from January 2010 to March 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with manufacturers adding 37,000 persons in March. Top hires were at motor vehicles and parts companies (more than 12,000) and machinery companies (more than 7,000).[1] Manufacturers are staffing up because orders are rising, and management is increasingly feeling the constraint of underemployment as they try to hit their output numbers. But increasing output should not be the first order of business [...]