February 17, 2009

Industrial Production Down 1.8% in January

Economic Trends, Finance, Free, News, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Industrial production fell 1.8 percent in January. At 101.3 percent of its 2002 average, output in January was 10.0 percent below its year-earlier level.

Production in the manufacturing sector dropped 2.5 percent with broad-based declines among its components. A plunge in motor vehicle and parts production that resulted from extended plant shutdowns subtracted more than 1.0 percentage point from the change in manufacturing production. The output of mines moved down 1.3 percent.

A swing to below-average temperatures contributed to an increase of 2.7 percent in the output of utilities.

The capacity utilization rate for total industry fell to 72.0 percent, a rate 8.9 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2008.

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Housing Starts Fall 16.8% From December

Building Materials/Construction, Economic Trends, Free, News, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

Privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000, 16.8% below December and 56.2% below January 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 347,000; this is 12.2% below the December figure of 395,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 114,000.

By region, in the Northeast starts were down 73.7% from January 2008; in the Midwest they were down 66%; the South saw a drop of 53.7%, and the West declined 45.4%.

Permits
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 521,000. This is 4.8% below …

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Creating a More Flexible Work Force

Economic Trends, Free, Human Resources in Wholesale Distribution, Management, Operations, Research & Analytics, Strategy, Subscriber Only / Lindsay Young

More ideas on managing in a downturn come from DC Velocity, a magazine focused on logistics.

A recent article offered some ideas to build a more flexible work force to better respond to today’s uncertain conditions.

Hiring older workers and interns is advice I hear often; many distributors are unaware that a lot of schools have internship programs. You can fill a vacant spot a lower price while training someone who could work for you post-graduation. Older workers are attractive because many are looking for part-time work and they are known to be reliable and productive. What’s more, they require little training if they have worked for you or a similar company their whole lives.

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Trends in Business Technology for 2009

Free, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only, Technology / Lindsay Young

A recent McKinsey Quarterly report (registration required) outlined changes it expects to see in business technology this year, including some of the findings MDM found in its distribution-specific report. Businesses in every industry are looking to automate more processes and use more productivity-based tools. E-commerce is becoming more common; however in the distribution world, more larger distributors than smaller have taken advantage of Web-based storefronts, catalog systems and electronic communication with supply chain partners.

Businesses are also looking to cut costs in IT, just as they …

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February 17, 2009

Industrial Production Down 1.8% in January

Housing Starts Fall 16.8% From December

Creating a More Flexible Work Force

Trends in Business Technology for 2009

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