- Manufacturing growth: Manufacturing production rebounded in March, up 2.7% after it fell 3.7% in February due to supply chain issues and weather.
- The good news: “While there continue to be challenges in the supply chain and with rising costs, the manufacturing sector continues to expand strongly overall, with production down just 2.1% since the COVID-19 pandemic began in February 2020,” said Moutray.
- The prognosis: “We would expect to return to pre-pandemic levels by the third quarter of this year,” he added.
- Top risers: Petroleum and coal products, aerospace and miscellaneous transportation equipment, fabricated metal products and chemicals. While the overall industry is down since the pandemic began, some sectors have actually increased production during the pandemic, including the aerospace and food and beverage sectors.
New York data: In April, manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in four years in the New York Federal Reserve Bank’s district, Moutray tells us.
- The increase was “buoyed by stronger growth in new orders, shipments, inventories, employment and the average employee workweek,” he said. Input costs grew at the fastest rate since the summer of 2008, but selling prices also reached a record high, implying that a portion of the higher costs are being passed on.