2007

July 2007 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $359.0 billion, up 0.8 percent from the revised June level and were up 7.2 percent from the July 2006 level. The June preliminary estimate was revised downward $0.7 billion or 0.2 percent.
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July sales of durable goods were virtually unchanged from last month and were up 4.3 percent from a year ago. Compared to last month, sales of lumber and other construction materials were down 3.2 percent. July sales of nondurable goods were up 0.1 percent from last month and were up 10.0 percent from last year. Sales of drugs and druggists’ sundries were up 1.4 percent from last month.
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While there will likely be significant deceleration in manufacturing growth in 2007, the second quarter showed signs of resiliency, and 2008 looms as an improvement, according to the MAPI Quarterly Industrial Outlook, a report that analyzes 27 major industries.
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Manufacturing industrial production expanded at a 3.9 percent annual rate in second quarter 2007, far better than the weak 0.8 percent in the first quarter. For the year as a whole, though, the report predicts that manufacturing production growth will decelerate from the 4.7 percent recorded in 2006 to 2 percent growth in 2007, before rebounding to 2.9 percent growth in 2008.
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An improvement in manufacturers’ exports in most industries and the end of an inventory drawdown explains the bounce back in …

Labor productivity -defined as output per hour -increased 4.3% in wholesale trade in 2006, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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From 1987 to 2006, labor productivity increased at the following average annual rate: 3.5% in wholesale trade.
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2005-2006 Change in Wholesale Trade
Output per hour grew 4.3%, as output increased 6.6% and hours advanced 2.2%.&nbsp ; Labor productivity rose 5.1% in durable merchant wholesalers (NAICS 423) and increased 2.7% in nondurable merchant wholesalers (NAICS 424).
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Labor productivity rose in 15 of the 19 detailed wholesale trade industries in 2006, as output …

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in August, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business.
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Viewed from the manufacturing sector, the overall economy continues to grow at a significant rate, according to ISM. In comparing August to July, the rate of growth in manufacturing was slightly less but expansion continues, although at the slowest pace in the past five months.
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Both the New Orders Index and the Production Index are encouraging for continuing growth as we head toward the fourth quarter of 2007, ISM reports.
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