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There continues to be mixed news on the current state of the manufacturing sector, mirroring the varied reports on the overall economy as a whole.
The vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union—the so-called “Brexit”—dominated headlines on Friday.
There were numerous economic indicators out last week, but financial markets pivoted on news from the Federal Reserve and the prospects for a possible “Brexit” vote in the United Kingdom on June 23 for Britain to possibly leave the European Union.
With only a handful of new data points last week, financial markets were able to catch a slight breather before a slew of new indicators come out this week.
Despite encouraging signs earlier elsewhere in the economy, including retail sales, housing and manufacturing sentiment, employers remain cautious enough in their economic outlook to hold back on hiring—at least for now.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the U.S. economy grew 0.8 percent in the first quarter of 2016, up from the prior estimate of 0.5 percent.
After disappointing manufacturing activity in the first quarter of 2016, the sector rebounded somewhat in April.
After receiving disappointing consumer spending numbers in the first quarter, the rebound in retail sales in April was welcome news. Americans increased their spending with retailers by 1.3 percent in April, up from a decline of 0.3 percent in March.
The current state of the manufacturing economy continues to be a give-and-take between signs that the sector is beginning to improve versus ongoing challenges related to global headwinds.
Overall, U.S. economic growth has been disappointing through the first three months of 2016, with real GDP up by just 0.5 percent, extending the sluggishness seen at the end of 2015.
Building on disappointing hiring, production and retail numbers this month, the housing data out last week provided another discouraging economic measure for us to absorb.
Much of the recent data regarding manufacturing output and demand have reflected improvements, with signs of possible stabilization in the market.
With that said, in the give-and-take of the past few weeks, encouraging signs about the economy have often been met with reminders of ongoing challenges.
There are continuing signs that the manufacturing sector in the United States is stabilizing.
The manufacturing sector has begun to show signs that it is stabilizing after months of softness, as discussed in last week’s report, providing us with a glimmer of optimism moving forward.
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