Economic Data and Growth
Industrial Output Retreats as Factory Production Slips
Industrial production declined 0.5% in March, while manufacturing output ticked down 0.1% after moving up 0.4% in February. At 97.3% of its 2017 average, manufacturing production advanced 0.5% from March 2025. Capacity utilization for manufacturing was 75.3%, down 0.2 percentage points from February but up 1.1% over the past year. Capacity utilization remained 2.9 percentage …
Survey: Trade Policies Shake Up Manufacturers’ Economic Outlook
Q1 2025 NAM Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey. What’s going on: In the most recent survey, conducted from Feb. 11 to Feb. 28, trade uncertainties moved to the top of the list of manufacturers’ concerns—with 76.2% of respondents citing them as their primary worry. Increased raw material costs came in second, cited by 62.3% of those surveyed. …
The State of the Manufacturing Workforce in 2025
State of the Manufacturing Workforce Address at Drake State Community and Technical College in Huntsville, Alabama, before an audience of students, faculty, manufacturers and local and state officials. Opportunity—for all: Taking the stage to give the MI’s assessment of the manufacturing worker base in 2025, Carolyn Lee, president of the Manufacturing Institute, the NAM’s 501(c)3 …
Economic Uncertainty Fuels Lower Optimism for Manufacturers
Washington, D.C. – The National Association of Manufacturers released its Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey for Q3 2024, which, reflecting overall uncertainty across several challenges, shows a drop in manufacturing sentiment in the third quarter. “The preelection uncertainty explains in part the drop in optimism, but economic pressures and policy threats are also at play. The good …
