MAPI Quarterly U.S. Industrial Outlook: Sluggish Growth Ahead
U.S. industrial activity hit a speed bump in the second quarter of 2012 and stall speed growth may delay the transition from modest to moderate growth until the second half of 2014, according to the quarterly Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) U.S. Industrial Outlook (EO-111), a report that analyzes 27 major industries.
After growing at a robust 10% annual rate in the first quarter of 2012, manufacturing decelerated to a nominal 1% in the second quarter.
MAPI forecasts that industrial production will increase 4.5% in 2012, down from 5.2% in the June report, and 2.3% in 2013, a decrease from 3.3% in the previous forecast. Manufacturing production should outperform GDP growth, which MAPI estimates will be 2.0% in 2012 and 1.7% 2013.
