PMA provides business conditions report.
Press Release Summary:
According to August 2007 PMA Business Conditions Report, metalforming companies expect business conditions to improve slightly during next 3 months. Conducted monthly, report samples 150 metalforming companies in US and Canada, providing economic indicator for manufacturing. When asked what they expect trend in economic activity to be over next 3 months, 29% reported that conditions will improve, 56% predict activity will remain the same, and 15% anticipate decline in business conditions.
Original Press Release:
Business Conditions Report: August 2007
CLEVELAND, OH-August 21, 2007-According to the August 2007 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report, metalforming companies expect business conditions to improve slightly during the next three months. Conducted monthly, the report is an economic indicator for manufacturing, sampling 150 metalforming companies in the United States and Canada.
When asked what they expect the trend in general economic activity to be over the next three months, 29% of participants reported that conditions will improve (up from 23% in July), 56% predict activity will remain the same (compared to 60% the previous month) and 15% anticipate a decline in business conditions (down from 17% in July).
Metalforming companies also expect improvement in incoming orders during the next three months. Forty-three percent of respondents forecast an increase in orders (up from 32% in July), 40% expect no change (compared to 49% last month) and 17% anticipate a decrease in orders (down from 19% in July).
However, current average daily shipping levels compared to the past three months declined in August. Thirty-six percent of companies reported that shipping levels are below levels of three months ago (compared to 28% in July), 36% reported no change (down from 47% in July) and 28% reported that August shipping levels are above levels of three months ago (compared to 25% in July).
The number of metalforming companies with a portion of their workforce on short time or layoff increased to 13% in August, up from 11% in July.
"PMA members continued to experience challenging business conditions over the summer months," noted William E. Gaskin, PMA president. "Both the reported slowdown in shipments and the anticipated upturn in new orders and shipments over the next three months are quite typical for this time of year, but the level of optimism is constrained by soft home-building and domestic automotive markets."
The monthly Business Conditions Report has been conducted by PMA since 1979. Full report results are available at www.pma.org. PMA is the full-service trade association representing the $91-billion metalforming industry of North America-the industry that creates precision metal products using stamping, fabricating and other value-added processes. Its nearly 1200 member companies include metal stampers, fabricators, spinners, slide formers and roll formers as well as suppliers of equipment, materials and services to the industry. Members are located in 30 countries, with the majority found in North America-in 41 states of the United States as well as Canada and Mexico.
Contact:
Christie Carmigiano
Government, Safety & Public Affairs Manager
Precision Metalforming Association
Phone: 216/901-8800
Fax: 216/901-9190
E-mail: ccarmigiano@pma.org
Web site: www.pma.org
