The RSM Manufacturing Outlook Index is now 4.2 standard deviations below normal conditions, an assessment of manufacturing conditions that is not as dire as last month, but dire nonetheless. Perhaps last month’s reading of about six standard deviations below normal was an indication from manufacturers ... READ MORE >
Industrials
U.S. manufacturing sector hit hard by COVID-19, new RSM data shows
The recession in the U.S. manufacturing sector that began in the second half of 2019 has been sharply exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, new proprietary data from RSM shows. Significantly more middle market manufacturers reported losses to U.S. revenue and greater disruptions to operations and their ... READ MORE >
COVID-19 pandemic drives largest drop in U.S. factory production on record
Total industrial production in the United States fell 11.2% in April from a month earlier, according to numbers released Friday by the Federal Reserve. That decline is the largest monthly drop in the 101-year history of the industrial production index, reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic ... READ MORE >
RSM Manufacturing Outlook Index shows six-standard-deviation hit
The RSM Manufacturing Outlook Index is now tracking at 6.3 standard deviations below normal conditions, surpassing levels seen during Global Financial Crisis of 2007-08 and even the global debacle of the July 1980 “double dip” recession. This reading strongly suggests that the Institute of Supply ... READ MORE >
New April data suggests more pain ahead for U.S. industrial sector
Business activity declined dramatically in New York state in early April, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s monthly survey of manufacturers there. The general business conditions index in the Fed’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey, released Wednesday, reflected a steep decline in ... READ MORE >
The perfect storm: Tough times ahead for the U.S. shale industry
A swift drop in oil demand from China and the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia have led to a global crude surplus. The oil industry in the United States faces tough times ahead as the coronavirus pandemic continues to inject uncertainty into oil markets, and shale producers especially are ... READ MORE >
Key manufacturing index indicates the industry contracted in March
A key gauge of U.S. factory activity dipped into contraction territory in March, new data released Wednesday shows. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index dipped to 49.1 in March, from 50.1 a month earlier, and above the consensus of 44.5. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in ... READ MORE >
Coronavirus supply chain disruptions expected to linger for manufacturers
Middle market businesses in the United States and the rest of the world have come to rely heavily on China, which exports more intermediate manufactured goods than any other country. The risk of economic disruption to this system increases the longer the coronavirus pandemic persists. Since the first ... READ MORE >
Coronavirus pandemic hinders global automotive supply chains
With the recent passage of “phase one” of a trade agreement between the United States and China and the ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), 2020 was supposed to be a transitional year for the global auto industry. Analysts had expectations that sales in the sector had ... READ MORE >
March Federal Reserve data signals more challenges ahead for manufacturers
Survey data released this month from the Federal Reserve Bank’s New York and Philadelphia districts shows the greatest manufacturing index drop ever recorded in those regions for the month of March, with overall readings well below earlier estimates and in negative territory. The Federal Reserve Bank of ... READ MORE >