Exports of industrial supplies saw a healthy rebound from a November decline.
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Following their biggest gain in 28 months during November, orders were virtually unchanged in December.
While the figure decelerated from 3Q23’s robust 4.9% growth, it easily topped forecasts and suggested continued economic resilience.
AMT said aerospace and automotive markets are still working on an impressive backlog and sales that will keep shops busy well into 2024.
The indexes of business equipment, construction supplies and business supplies all registered slight monthly declines in December.
Our latest forecast called for downward revisions, snapping a three-month streak of optimistic revenue trends.
U.S. Construction input prices continued to fall in December primarily due to plunging oil prices.
"Core inflation" ticked up 0.2% during the month, but ended the year with almost half the annual increase as 2022 did.
However, "Core inflation" was identical to November on a monthly basis and slightly decelerated year-over-year.
Wholesale inventories were unrevised from the advanced report, down 0.2% from October.
Through November, year-to-date were down 13.3% from the same period in 2022.
Orders bounced back from a down October for their third gain in four months.
The distribution and supply chain sector saw healthy month-to-month growth in project counts, with Texas leading the way geographically.
Nonetheless, it was the 14th straight month of overall manufacturing contraction overall — the longest such stretch since 2002.
November spending was 0.4% above October's figure, which was revised considerably higher.
Wholesale inventories have fallen in nine of 11 months through November 2023.
Mike Hockett extracts commentary from a panel discussion between STAFDA distributors, manufacturers and rep agents.
Manufacturers across most industries expect revenue growth in the new year, according to a nationwide Institute for Supply Management survey.
It was quite the rebound from an October slump, showing continued recent volatility.
However, November industrial production was down 0.4% year-over-year.
