U.S. manufacturers achieve largest order backlog in nearly six years
Manufacturers of heavy equipment and communications equipment are experiencing encouraging growth with products aimed at foreign markets, according to the Globe and Mail.
Companies continue to sell a range of products, such as machinery, office furniture and
business projectors, to both domestic and international businesses, showing promising data for the recovery of the U.S. economy.
“While consumer spending has remained tentative, business spending on machinery and equipment has been on a tear,” said Michael Gregory, a senior economist with BMO Nesbitt Burns, the Globe and Mail reports.
The U.S. manufacturing industry is an “expansionary territory” with shipments and new orders helping to create an order backlog that hasn’t been seen since mid-2004, according to Scotia Capital, the Globe and Mail relays.
Bill Cheney, chief economist for MFC Global Investment Management said the gains in durable orders was “inevitable” because there is still a lot of “ground to make up” from when business spending hit records lows during the credit crisis, the Globe and Mail reports.
A recent Citigroup survey of 625 U.S. companies shows an increase in planned capital spending of 5 percent in 2010 and 2 percent in 2011, Business Insider relays. The expected spending gains are a step in the right direction for businesses, as 2009 saw a 18 percent drop in spending.
