At long last, U.S. manufacturing activity appears to be back in the black.
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It followed a January monthly decrease of 0.2%.
A modest February increased followed a January that had the sharpest one-month decline since April 2020.
The buying group's quarterly membership survey showed considerable optimism among distributors despite potential headwinds later this year.
Meanwhile, the U.S. central bank maintained the federal funds interest rate for a seventh-straight month.
The modest increase followed a weaker January that was revised downward from its previous estimate.
While oil & gas led the March downward revision for 2024, 10 of 19 total industry verticals likewise trended more pessimistic.
The figures raise concerns about lingering inflation amid a weakened industrial business cycle.
Consumption also increased 4.1% year-over-year, rebounding from December's declines.
By order value, January was the lowest level since January 2021, while the unit count was its lowest since 2016.
Respondents indicated staffing remains their top challenge — though weakening — and that new recent regulations will take significant time and costs to understand and comply with.
The latest Census Bureau figures indicate January was a weakened month for sales, both month-to-month and year-over-year.
The figure was boosted by an additional billing day, but the month was still a considerable rebound when excluding that factor.
It was the third decline in the past four months, and much sharper than December’s.
It followed a sizeable jump in January, reflecting broad weakened industrial demand.
Annually, however, January’s figure was up 11.7%.
Dragged down by building materials and supplies, it followed a 0.3% increase in December.
Driven by a sharp decline in commercial aircraft orders, it was the sharpest one-month drop since April 2020’s 19.3%.
After a strong start to 2023, shipments of cutting tools weakened in the last quarter of the year, falling 7.3% in December year-over-year.
With 2023’s final wholesale trade numbers accounted for, see how the sector fared compared to previous years, and our latest 2024-2025 revenue expecations by industry vertical.
