MAPI — Manufacturers Alliance News and Reports — U.S. Industrial Outlook and more

Issues in the Brief

Keeping the Lights on in the City of Light
World leaders gathered in Paris for COP21 and reached a historic climate accord committing countries to emissions reductions to slow the rise in global temperatures and tackle the “global threat to security in the 21st century.” For the first time, political and business leaders seem ready to acknowledge climate change as a cross-sector issue with far-reaching implications for public health, national security and finances.

Our Most Popular Research of 2015
This list of our most viewed research last year speaks to the wide range of subjects monitored by our experts. If you’d like to schedule one of our economists to speak on the economic outlook, energy, demographics, or any of our other fields of expertise.

European Industrial Recovery Picking Up Speed
Domestic demand has emerged as the decisive driver of economic activity in Europe and prospects for growth in 2016 are on the horizon, according to a report from the MAPI Foundation, the research affiliate of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation.

ISM Index: Manufacturing Activity ‘Abnormally Week’ but Exports Growing
“The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reports that the December 2015 index was 48.2%, down slightly from 48.6% in November. With the dividing line between growth and decline at 50%, the December report indicates that manufacturing activity is declining,”

Economic Update

Q4 2015 Quarterly Forecast for U.S. Economic and Manufacturing Growth
The overall outlook for the U.S. economy, with particular emphasis on the manufacturing sector, for the remainder of 2015 and 2016 highlighting manufacturing’s growth  and challenges for a five-year horizon.

U.S. Industrial Outlook: Growth Will Be Moderate but Accelerate Through 2018
While the US manufacturing sector has yet to achieve its pre-recession production level, positive aspects of the outlook for 2016 include rapid growth in housing starts, absorption of negative shocks from 2015 and strong growth in motor vehicles and industrial construction. Mining and drilling equipment production, however, will fall 21% next year.

European Industrial Outlook: Recovery Picking Up Speed
The European economic recovery is on solid ground, with domestic demand growing robustly in virtually all countries.  Manufacturing is expanding more quickly in Europe than in the U.S., driven increasingly by pent-up consumer demand and growing appetite for investment goods.  Central Europe’s industrial markets continue to grow about twice as fast as their developed counterparts in Western Europe.

Manufacturing Update: December 2015
U.S. manufacturers have faced numerous challenges in 2015, including a stronger dollar, heightened uncertainty about slowing economic growth in China and the dramatic fall in the prices of oil and natural gas which has proven to be a two-edged sword.  The manufacturing index was unchanged in November. The index has been volatile throughout 2015.  On a year-over-year basis, the index is a mere 1% above its November 2014 level.