COVID-19, work-from-home policies and extremely low mortgage rates have created demand for new homes.
The Moldmaking and mold industry has seen a surge in business activity led by expanding new orders. This occurs when a growing proportion of respondents each month signals that new orders are increasing. Gardner Intelligence sat down with Christina Fuges, Editorial Director of MoldMaking Technology Magazine (MMT), to discuss this and more. Click here to watch the interview.
E-commerce sales since 1999 have grown on average by 20-percent annually. Yet in this unusual year, e-commerce sales increased by 32-percent in just the second quarter of 2020 as people changed their purchasing behavior and their demand for certain goods vastly changed. For comparison sake, using its historical growth rate the industry would have needed 1 ¾ years to grow the same amount it did in just these three short months.
Consumer purchases of vehicles in the second half of 2020 have been surprisingly strong. In an unexpected move, luxury brands and pick-up trucks have led the rebound. All of this has been made possible by low interest rates and increased borrowing in the auto-loan market.
The recovery in durable goods production took a slight pause in September, but leading indicators still point to more upside in production.
The rate of contraction in durable goods capacity utilization should bottom out in the 4th quarter of 2020, according to the Gardner Business Index.
The Federal Reserve has stated it will not pursue negative interest rates. Therefore, the only way for the change to be more negative is for inflation to increase, which is why the Federal Reserve has stated a new policy of average inflation targeting.
The trend in the GBI: Metalworking indicates that machine tool orders will bottom out sometime between September and the first quarter of 2021.
A burst in consumer durable goods spending indicates that the annual rate of contraction in durable goods new orders may be near a bottom.
While disposable income growth was above its historic average rate, a significantly higher proportion of income was still coming from government transfer payments.
Spending patterns are changing due to the pandemic. Service and experience items are out. Goods that allow more isolated entertainment or tie in with a life of working from home are in.
The Gardner Business Index reported a second consecutive month of expansionary activity in September. Large manufacturers and those serving the automotive and medical industries helped propel the Index higher.
Mexican Media Brands