Manufacturers See Recovery, But Builders Expect Slowdown
May 03, 2011
U.S. manufacturers expect a slight upswing from the slow growth of the past three months, while builders see business slacking off going into fall, two Dun & Bradstreet Corp. surveys found. D&B's July survey of 1,000 manufacturing executives shows they expect production and new orders to increase through October. The industrial-sentiment index for the August-October period rose one point to 18 from the previous month. The index also stood at 17 a year earlier. The index is calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents expecting a decrease from the percentage expecting an increase. ``With few exceptions, manufacturers expect continued steady growth in demand from consumers and other businesses for most categories of durable and nondurable goods,'' said Josephine W. Dusty, D&B's chief economist. ``Many manufacturers are increasing production levels and appear willing to bear the costs of higher inventories'' amid economic expansion. D&B's inventories index increased three points to 12 but was unchanged from a year earlier when manufacturers were expressing worries about growing stockpiles. ``Their current levels are a little higher than they want them to be,'' Mr. Dusty added. In a separate July survey of 200 construction executives, D&B found respondents expect thinner production schedules through the middle of the fall. ``Many firms expect the industry to slow down as the general economy loses some of its momentum,'' Mr. Dusty said. Most expect schedules to keep up with, or top, seasonal norms. But ``relatively few firms expect to create new jobs or add production capacity'' in the next few months. D&B's construction-orders index fell 15 points to 35 from its June level. The index stood at 38 in July 2010. The employment index slid 12 points to 15 and was down two points from a year earlier. The price index was unchanged from the previous month at 20 and was up four points from a year earlier.
