Made In America: Manufacturing Sector Expands For 18th Straight Month

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CLOSELY WATCHED MANUFACTURING REPORT SHOWS IMPROVEMENT: Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in November for the 18th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 66th consecutive month, according to last week’s Institute of Supply Management report.

New orders showed a slight improvement in the sector from October to November, while employment, inventories and production all fell slightly. The price of raw materials fell substantially month-over-month. The ISM reading was 58.7 in November, down from 59 in October, but any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector.

Of the 18 manufacturing industries covered in the report, 14 reported growth in November in the following order: Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Furniture & Related Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Textile Mills; Printing & Related Support Activities; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Paper Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Machinery; Transportation Equipment; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; and Primary Metals.

The only industry reporting contraction in November was Apparel, Leather & Allied Products.

‘SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT’ POSSIBLE FOR FORT SMITH AREA ECONOMY: Kathy Deck, the Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the UA Walton College of Business, told the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce’s First Friday Breakfast attendees that the local Fort Smith economy should expect a turn around in the coming months and years.

The Fort Smith area manufacturing sector, once among the strongest in the state, employed an estimated 18,000 in August 2014, down from 18,200 in July, and down from 18,400 August 2013. Sector employment is down almost 37% from a decade ago when August 2004 manufacturing employment in the metro area stood at 28,400. Also, the annual average monthly employment in manufacturing has fallen from 28,900 in 2005, 19,200 in 2012, and to 18,300 in 2013.

But Deck said with the shock wearing off from the Whirlpool factory closure a few years ago and the continued rebound in the local economy, the Fort Smith region could start posting positive employment numbers that match job announcements with jobs data.

“What you see is that Fort Smith was in decline for several years and has basically stabilized in terms of its employment perspective. Like I said, when you combine the (jobs data) with the announcements that are out there, we could begin to see significant improvement over the next year or two in the Fort Smith economy,” she said. Read more here.

BIG RIVER STEEL: SUIT ALLEGING CLEAN AIR ACT VIOLATIONS HAS NO MERIT – A challenge to a $1.3 billion steel mill in Mississippi County could face additional hurdles if a suit against the superproject goes forward, attorneys for Big River Steel said in court papers late last week. In the brief, attorneys for Big River Steel argue that rival Nucor has already lost the case at the state permit level. Read the arguments on both sides of the issue at this link.