NAM Says Manufacturing on the Mend

Managing Automation (9/4, Sloane) – The National Association of Manufacturers issued a cautiously optimistic prognosis for the U.S. economy and the manufacturing sector on the eve of the Labor Day weekend, based on signs of stabilization in a number of key areas. Among the positive indications that a recovery is starting to sprout are improvements in the housing market, increased activity in European markets, and new orders for capital goods, the group’s “Labor Day 2009” report states. However, the NAM warned of the fragility of the recovery. While NAM’s chief economist, David Huether, agrees with the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI report that there is legitimate concern about a “jobless recovery,” his analysis calls for more than 40% of the 2 million manufacturing jobs lost during the recession to return by 2014, bringing employment in the sector back up to 12.7 million jobs. The NAM’s “Labor Day 2009: The Manufacturing Report” is available at www.nam.org/labordayreport09