Tuesday, August 01, 2006
August Already?
Yes, it really is August 1st, and that means the Institute for Supply Management has posted its manufacturing index numbers for July. While raw material and energy costs took a chunk out of manufacturing companies' margins, the manufacturing sector continued to grow last month: higher orders in June led to more production in July. The ISM's index went from 53.8 in June to 54.7 in July (anything over 50 means the economy is generally expanding). Does your experience tally with the ISM's report? Feel free to leave a comment.
Actually there were a number of headlines today about the resilience of the manufacturing sector in the face of a general economic slowdown. The slide in the dollar has probably helped by making US products more attractive abroad. An increase in orders for aircraft may also have contributed. (Boeing had a nice July, as we all know).
What's weird is the employment numbers: the ISM says "employment expanded", while IndustryWeek says not so much: manufacturing tacked on 15,000 jobs in June, but early reports indicate it lost 20,000 in July. However, those losses may be skewed by the GM buyouts, which affected some 30,000 people.
Whatever the reason for the July numbers (and whatever those July numbers eventually turn out to be), we can already put 2,000 jobs in the "loss" column for August: Eastman-Kodak has announced it's going to cut that many employees from its payroll.
Kodak has been stung by the transition from good old celluloid film to digital photography: the AP reports that while Kodak's digital division posted a 6% increase in sales, its traditional photography division (film, papers, and chemicals) dropped 22%. (And part of this is due to raw materials prices: see the company's press release here, which mentions the cost of silver causing problems.)
That makes sense to this blogger: I can't remember the last time I took a roll of film to a store for processing. Using a digital camera and Photoshop has made me and everyone I know much more attractive.
Actually there were a number of headlines today about the resilience of the manufacturing sector in the face of a general economic slowdown. The slide in the dollar has probably helped by making US products more attractive abroad. An increase in orders for aircraft may also have contributed. (Boeing had a nice July, as we all know).
What's weird is the employment numbers: the ISM says "employment expanded", while IndustryWeek says not so much: manufacturing tacked on 15,000 jobs in June, but early reports indicate it lost 20,000 in July. However, those losses may be skewed by the GM buyouts, which affected some 30,000 people.
Whatever the reason for the July numbers (and whatever those July numbers eventually turn out to be), we can already put 2,000 jobs in the "loss" column for August: Eastman-Kodak has announced it's going to cut that many employees from its payroll.
Kodak has been stung by the transition from good old celluloid film to digital photography: the AP reports that while Kodak's digital division posted a 6% increase in sales, its traditional photography division (film, papers, and chemicals) dropped 22%. (And part of this is due to raw materials prices: see the company's press release here, which mentions the cost of silver causing problems.)
That makes sense to this blogger: I can't remember the last time I took a roll of film to a store for processing. Using a digital camera and Photoshop has made me and everyone I know much more attractive.
