TEMPE, AZ—The U.S. manufacturing sector resumed growth in March, bolstered by strength in new orders. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity rose to 51.8 from 49.5 the month before. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector and a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
It is too little and too late to keep writing “manufacturing matters.” Everything else in the economy is secondary to manufacturing, mining and farming. Only these activities build wealth.
NEW YORK—U.S. industrial companies rented or purchased 62.9 million square feet of space in the fourth quarter of 2015, up 9.1 percent from the previous quarter and up 0.5 percent from the fourth quarter of a year ago, according to commercial real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield. The vacancy rate of industrial property in the US is now at a 15-year low.
WASHINGTON—U.S. manufacturers added 29,000 new jobs in January, after a net gain of just 33,000 in all of 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
WASHINGTON—New orders for U.S. manufactured goods edged higher in July after a solid increase in June, led by gains for boats and ships, according to the Commerce Department. Factory orders rose 0.4 percent in July, slower than June’s 2.2 percent rise.
WESTBURY, NY—Denver tops the list of top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas for job creation and economic development, according to a new study by Area Development magazine.
CHICAGO—The rise of the U.S. dollar against the euro and other world currencies over the past year has reduced the cost-competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing compared with economies such as Germany, France, Japan, Australia and Brazil. However, the U.S. still maintains a significant cost advantage over these economies, and therefore manufacturers are unlikely to shift production to other nations, according to The Boston Consulting Group.
DETROIT—Wayne County, MI, has the best manufacturing economy in the United States, according to a report on job creation released Tuesday. Wayne tops the list of U.S. counties in creating manufacturing jobs, with the addition of 4,225 jobs in 2014, according to the report by Headlight Data.
