Monthly Archives : December 2020

CRANSTON – Working in conjunction with the Back to Work RI initiative, manufacturing, and training organization We Make RI has launched industrial sewing classes.

The goal, say organization leaders, is to fill 50 open positions by the end of the year, with textile manufacturing still facing a shortage of skilled labor.

“We work with several Rhode Island textile manufacturers and they always tell us the same thing: we need trained workers,” said Barbara Jackson, executive director, We Make RI. “We knew in the aftermath of COVID, there would be heavy job losses. Our goal is to match these unemployed workers with open positions at local sewing companies.”

• The U.S. economy jumped 33.4% at the annual rate in the third quarter, the largest increase in the history of the series, which dates to 1947. Despite soaring in the third quarter, real GDP remained down 3.4% year to date. The forecast for growth in the fourth (or current) quarter is 6.0%, with 4.5% growth anticipated for 2021.

• Real value-added output in the manufacturing sector rose to $2.213 trillion in the third quarter, as expressed in chained 2012 dollars. It remained down 1.0% from the all-time high recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019 ($2.236 trillion), despite tremendous volatility year-to-date. Overall, manufacturing accounted for 11.0% of real GDP in the third quarter, with value-added output (in nominal terms) up to $2.329 trillion, just 1.7% from a record high.

• In the latest  NAM Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey, 74.2% of respondents were either somewhat or very positive about the outlook for their company. It represented notable improvement after the 33.9% and 66.0% readings in the second and third quarters, respectively.

• Just over 29% of manufacturers said that their revenues will have recovered either before or during the fourth quarter, and 67.7% anticipate that their revenues will be back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021. After two quarters with weaker domestic demand topping the list of primary business challenges, the inability to attract and retain talent led the pack once again in the fourth quarter.

• New orders for durable goods rose 0.9% in November, rising for the seventh straight month. Overall, the durable goods manufacturing sector has bounced back soundly following steep declines in March and April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On a year-over-year basis, new durable goods orders have grown by 3.8% since November 2019.

• Orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft—a proxy for capital spending in the U.S. economy—increased 0.4% to $70.90 billion in November, a new monthly record.

This past summer MSSC publicly launched an “Industry 4.0” update of its signature Certified Production Technician (CPT) industry-wide training and certification program.  Based on extensive research with leading industry subject matter experts, MSSC selected a list of nine rapidly emerging, data-intensive, “Industry 4.0” technologies that will profoundly influence manufacturing production processes and quality control: 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Additive (3D) Manufacturing, Autonomous Robots, Augmented Reality, Data Analytics, Nanomanufacturing, and Advanced Materials. MSSC has embedded these technologies in its 2020 “Industry 4.0” Edition of its National Production Standards.

Our nation is now seeing the emergence of a “mega trend” in American manufacturing towards optimally self-sufficient domestic supply chains. By leveraging a production workforce upskilled to the “4.0” level, this trend will also produce higher levels of productivity, competitiveness, and economic growth.

In a recent article in the Providence Journal, in depth discussion noted the very serious concern of frivolous lawsuits.  This could be detrimental to the small business sector.  In addition, an article in Industry Week quoted Gary Pearce, chief risk architect at Aclaimant.   Pearce believes the legal aspect will ramp up once we are past dealing with the day-to-day concerns of the pandemic. He sees an increased willingness on the part of employees to pursue legal remedies. This will arise from higher expectations of safety standards. People will look to their employers, generally a trusted source of information, to protect them. “The issue of safety and ensuring the safety of a workplace will not be something that is nice to have but it will be a must have,” says Pearce. And Pearce warns that if employees feel this is missing they might be willing to pursue remedies which could include regulatory complaints or even take to social media to air grievances.  At the end of the day, says Pearce, the workforce needs to believe that the employer is doing the right things, having balanced the needs of the organization, the safety of the employees, and the expectations of the customers.

Based on what we are reading and seeing, RIMA will continue to keep the pressure on including Liability coverage in the next PPP on the Federal level as well as the State level.

Manufacturing production increased 0.8% in November, rising for the seventh straight month, led by strength in durable goods. The largest increases in output in November were in motor vehicles and parts, primary metals, paper, miscellaneous durable goods and aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment. Overall, manufacturing production remained 3.7% below the pre-pandemic pace in February.

After November’s data notched the best readings since September 2014, the IHS Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing PMI pulled back slightly in December. The index continued to signal a strong rebound overall since the spring. Input prices rose at the strongest pace since April 2018. The Eurozone data were also encouraging, improving to the best reading since May 2018, despite lingering COVID-19-related weaknesses in the services sector.

Due to the pandemic, Rhode Island’s unemployment insurance trust fund has “decreased significantly,” which will lead to employers having to dip into their coffers to pay more in taxes, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training.  DLT spokesperson Margaux Fontaine on Friday could not immediately say how much the average increase will be. She said the UI trust fund decreased from $524.2 million in March, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, to $191 million on Dec. 11.  See below link for full article.

https://pbn.com/businesses-face-higher-unemployment-taxes-due-to-pandemic/

• There were 525,000 manufacturing job openings in October, up from 492,000 in September and a new record high. Manufacturers are clearly ramping back up, rebounding from springtime weaknesses. In the larger economy, nonfarm business job openings increased from 6,494,000 in September to 6,652,000 in October, a three-month high.

• One sign of improved health is the “churn” seen in the labor market, and the number of quits has rebounded in recent months, a reassuring sign that the labor market is strengthening.

• With that said, initial unemployment claims rose to 853,000 for the week ending Dec. 5, the highest level since the week ending Sept. 19. This suggests that the continued spread of COVID-19, along with new restrictions, has resulted in an increased pace of Americans filing for first-time unemployment insurance benefits. Indeed, data from other sources also suggest that the pace of job openings slowed in late November.

• The Small Business Optimism Index declined from 104.0 in October to 101.4 in November, with owners continuing to worry about short-term political and COVID-19 uncertainties. Indeed, the net percentage expecting business conditions to improve dropped to the lowest level since March. Despite some slippage in confidence, the headline index continued to reflect overall strength, with workforce challenges topping the “single most important problem” list once again.

Manufacturing job openings increased from September to October, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The manufacturing outlook: There were 525,000 manufacturing job openings in October, up from 492,000 in September and a new record high. Postings for durable (up from 267,000 to 290,000-the best since August 2019) and nondurable goods (up from 225,000 to 235,000-an all-time high) both strengthened in October.

More numbers: In the larger economy, nonfarm business job openings increased from 6,494,000 in September to 6,652,000 in October, a three-month high. Overall, 11,061,000 Americans were unemployed in October, down from 12,580,000 in September. That translates to 1.66 unemployed workers for every one job opening in October, down from 1.94 in September. For comparison, that figure was 4.62 in April, but just 0.83 in February.

The takeaway: According to NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray, “One sign of improved health is the ‘churn’ seen in the labor market, and the number of quits has rebounded in recent months. This is reassuring and a sign that the market is strengthening.”