Manufacturers Ignoring Washington…thankfully!

Just the mention of the word “Washington” sends shivers down all of our spines. How can one city polarize so many people and cause so much angst in our lives? Well, apparently the good news is that US manufacturers aren’t paying all that much attention to Washington and they are going about their business. We are seeing it on the streets and we are seeing it in recent indexes.

The Institute of Supply Management just came out with its September number that indexes US Factory expansion and it is up from August. The 56.4 result suggests that the expansion will continue into the foreseeable future. Couple this with recent reports from numerous economists predicting an extended industrial expansion starting sometime in 2014 (they argue exactly when it’ll start in 2014) and things are looking up!

Pitfalls? The job numbers are tepid, at best. Manufacturers have added only 15,000 jobs since July. Yes, the jobless expansion!

See attached Wall Street Journal article: US Factory Expansion