Posts for June 7, 2011

BOEING: INDIA ORDER SAVES U.S. JOBS

Today in Manufacturing
Boeing's media relations manager for the C-17 program says $4 billion order from India 'helps us keep the line alive and supports jobs' ... continue

OPEC DIVIDED OVER INCREASING OIL PRODUCTION

Today in Manufacturing
With sputtering economies using less energy, raising output to lower prices could flood the market, leading to a surplus that could drive prices down ... continue

JAPAN DOUBLES ESTIMATE OF RADIATION LEAK

Today in Manufacturing
Japan doubled the estimate of how much radiation leaked and says the damage to the reactors was greater than previously thought ... continue

EUROPE'S LARGEST ECONOMY BOUNCES BACK

Quick Manufacturing News
A large increase from investment goods used in production of final goods, indicates a strong demand for machine tools and other German specialty goods. Click to continue

MANUFACTURERS SCALED BACK HIRING IN APRIL

Chad Moutray NAM Shopfloor Blog
This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Series (JOLTS) data for the month of April, with slight decreases in the rates of job openings and hiring. In April, there were 2.97 million job openings, down from 3.12 million in March, with the job openings rate falling from 2.3 to 2.2 percent. Similarly, the hiring rate decreased from 3.1 to 3.0 percent, with 3.97 million hires in April compared to 4.07 million in March. The separations rate and the layoff rate remained unchanged at 2.9 percent and 1.2 percent, however, both saw slight decrease in their level.

Manufacturers scaled back their hiring in April, mirroring the results we have seen in other economic indicators. There were 257,000 new hires in manufacturing in April, compared to 269,000 in March. As the above figure shows, manufacturing hiring has stayed around 250,000 or more for much of the past year, hovering around 2.1 to 2.4 percent of total employment in the industry. On the good side, separations also declined from 245,000 in March to 233,000 in April, or around 2.0 percent.

The silver lining to this report is that net hiring for manufacturers is positive, with hiring exceeding separations by 24,000. Overall hiring and separations numbers have improved significantly from the recession years. But, it is also clear that we need to do more to spur additional hiring in manufacturing and the rest of the economy. The recent weakness, mostly stemming from supply issues and pricing pressures, has had an impact and it would be nice to see better growth moving forward than these numbers, and the May jobs numbers, indicate.

Chad Moutray is chief economist, National Association of Manufacturers.


CHOOSING THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH

Larry Scholer - Nina Easton, senior editor-at-large of Fortune, looks at the Administration’s efforts to revive the economy.(From Shopfloor Blog)

Talk to business leaders — the people who actually hire people — and you don’t hear worries that Washington is running out of tools. What you hear, pretty consistently, is that this White House stubbornly insists on reaching for the same wrong toolbox.

One policy from the right toolbox, she writes, is free trade. Members of both parties support free trade policies, but that bipartisan accord has yet to break the stalemate on three pending trade agreements: Korea, Colombia and Panama.

“Overseas markets are ripe for American products,” says Jay Timmons, CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, who likes to repeat the mantra that 95% of customers are abroad.
The administration has given lip service to the importance of this fact — the President says he wants to double exports. But the only three free trade agreements now before Congress — with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama — have yet to move forward, trapped in negotiations over spending more money on trade adjustment assistance. According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, the South Korea deal alone would result in an estimated net increase in American exports of up to $4 billion in its first decade. No magic bullet, but nothing to sneeze at either.
Meanwhile, economies around the globe are forging deals with each other. As Timmons notes: “There are 120 free trade agreements being negotiated. We’re party to one. We’re getting our clocks cleaned.”

Easton goes on to highlight some of the NAM’s other concerns about U.S. policy, namely the corporate tax rate (the second highest in the world) and the high cost of doing business in the country.