A key measure of U.S. manufacturers’ health suffered its largest annual decline since the recession ended more than six years ago, showing how global headwinds are eroding a onetime pillar of the economy.
The 0.1 percent drop matched the median forecast of 84 economists surveyed by Bloomberg and followed a 0.4 percent gain in November, Commerce Department figures showed Friday in Washington. For all of 2015, purchases climbed 2.1 percent, the smallest advance of the current economic expansion.
The Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of manufacturing activity fell to 50.1 from 50.2 in September, the purchasing managers’ group said Monday. Readings above 50 indicate expansion. The reading was the weakest since May 2013 and indicates that the sector barely skirted a contraction in October.
American consumers edged up their spending in September at the slowest pace since January, suggesting slowing job creation and economic turmoil overseas may be introducing some caution into purchasing habits. . . Personal income, reflecting Americans’ pretax earnings from salaries and investments, climbed 0.1% in September. That was the smallest increase since March.
A proposed state budget overhaul reducing some income taxes in favor of a new tax on services failed to gain traction this year, but will be back on the table in 2016, the plan’s sponsor told the Orange County Taxpayers Association on Wednesday.
From railroads to manufacturers to energy producers, businesses say they are facing a protracted slowdown in production, sales and employment that will spill into next year. Some of them say they are already experiencing a downturn.
California’s historic drought is forcing farmers in the dominant produce-growing state to fallow hundreds of thousands of acres and spend millions of dollars to access water. Yet U.S. grocery shoppers are barely feeling an impact. . . The lack of pain in the produce aisle highlights a tough reality of the produce business: It is difficult for growers and packers to boost prices because the sector is so fragmented, giving retailers and other wholesale buyers many options.
U.S. consumer sentiment rebounded strongly in early October, suggesting that the economic recovery remained on track despite headwinds from a strong dollar and weak global demand that have weighed on the industrial sector, particularly manufacturing.
U.S. retail sales barely rose in September and producer prices recorded their biggest decline in eight months, raising further doubts about whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.
California producers, who pump about a fifth of the nation’s milk supply, say they’re struggling to maintain output as they weather a precipitous slump in the global dairy market and grapple with rising feed costs stemming from yearslong drought. Their travails are prompting at least one large milk processor—California Dairies Inc., a cooperative with nearly $5 billion in annual sales—to limit investments in milk-handling capacity.
“Rice grown in Arkansas and other Southern states has filled much of the void, along with rice from Europe and Australia. It’s likely just a temporary shift. But after back-to-back years of weak crops, some Sacramento Valley growers are starting to worry about their long-term international prospects even if El Niño packs a serious punch this winter, as some forecasters predict.”
The National Association of Manufacturers in a quarterly outlook survey found its members now expect capital investment to grow 1.9% over the next 12 months, down from a 2.3% forecast in March. Full-time employment is expected to expand only 0.8%, down from 1.9%, and wages are seen rising 1.6%, down from 1.9%.
Because of California’s historic drought, the state’s rice crop will be 30 percent below normal –- at 375,000 acres. Experts say the smaller planting will hurt the economy and wildlife that depend on shallow flooded fields.
The state’s exports of goods to foreign markets in April totaled $14.39 billion, up from the $14.09 billion recorded in April 2014. By way of comparison, total U.S. exports of goods saw a 4.2% decline in the same period, while exports from Texas shrank by a full 9.0%.
Getting a more qualified workforce is a big issue, and you can’t have too many regulatory hurdles to get approvals to build plants. People in the U.S. have no idea how fast people do things in Asia. They work 24/7. I was just in Shanghai, and I was watching them build an elevated freeway. The construction workers lived on the site. We don’t have that level of urgency in the U.S.