Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey: Fourth Quarter 2022
The National Association of Manufacturers Q4 2022 Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey shows manufacturers’ concerns around a challenging economic environment characterized by inflation, supply chain disruption and the workforce crisis. The NAM conducted the survey Nov. 29 – Dec. 13, 2022.
Key Findings:
- 62.4% of manufacturing leaders believed that the U.S. economy would officially slip officially into a recession in 2023.
- 75.7% of manufacturing leaders listed attracting and retaining quality workforce as a primary business challenge with supply chain disruptions (65.7%) and increased raw material costs (60.7%) the next biggest impediments.
- Even in a recession, manufacturers plan to do the following: capital spending on new equipment and technological investments (65.3%), upskilling and training of existing workforce (64.1%), seeing solid demand for their company’s products (63.2%), hiring new employees (55.1%), investing in research and development (52.1%) and spending on new structures and existing facilities (38.6%).
- More than three-quarters of respondents (75.8%) said pushing back against regulatory overreach should be the top priority of the 118th Congress. Other priorities included supporting increased domestic energy production (69.3%), passing comprehensive immigration reform (65.4%), maintaining and permanently extending tax reform (63.0%), controlling rising health care costs (55.5%), addressing the skills gap facing manufacturers (50.5%) and modernizing permitting to reduce red tape (40.0%).
- 68.9% of respondents have a positive outlook for their company, the lowest since the third quarter of 2020.