NAM Monday Economic Report – July 28, 2014

News regarding manufacturing activity was mostly positive last week, with surveys from the Kansas City and Richmond Federal Reserve Banks both reflecting a pickup in shipments and employment in July. New orders continued to grow at a moderate pace in each region, and respondents were mostly upbeat about sales and production over the next six months. Nonetheless, raw material costs have accelerated a bit in the Richmond district, and new export orders have contracted in eight of the past 12 months in the Kansas City district. Meanwhile, new durable goods orders rebounded in June, with year-to-date growth at a reasonably healthy rate of 4.4 percent. This indicates that the sector has recovered for the most part from winter-related softness, even if some components, such as motor vehicle sales, were lower for the month. Similarly, the Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reflected relatively strong growth in sales and output for the sector despite some easing in the headline number in July.

Overseas, the data indicate that the Chinese economy has continued to stabilize from weakness in the first five months of the year. The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI expanded for the second straight month in July, with the pace of activity up for new orders, exports and output. The sales pace was the fastest since January 2011, suggesting that recent measures taken by the Chinese government to stimulate growth have had a positive impact. Likewise, Japanese manufacturers also reported expanding levels of sentiment for two consecutive months, but activity decelerated overall and output stagnated. Export sales from Japan, on the other hand, grew. In other news, the European manufacturing sector made marginal progress in July, particularly for production and exports, and the Eurozone has now expanded for 13 straight months. Yet, growth varied from country to country. For instance, German manufacturing activity picked up in July, while the French economy continued to contract.

The other highlights last week centered on housing and pricing. The housing market remains weaker than we would like, as illustrated by the sharp drop in new home sales in June. Still, the June figure was consistent with the annual paces in March and April, with May’s sales numbers appearing to be an outlier. With the slower pace of sales, inventories of homes have increased. In contrast, existing home sales improved for the third straight month, with some progress in the second quarter relative to the softer first quarter. Even in the existing home sales release, however, there were some discouraging findings, including the fact that sales remain below where they were last year and that first-time homebuyers are still having difficulties making purchases. Meanwhile, on the inflation front, the consumer price index increased in June, led by higher gasoline costs. Yet, pricing pressures remain mostly in check, with core inflation up 1.9 percent over the past 12 months.

This week, the focus will be on second-quarter GDP and jobs. The expectation is that output will rebound from the drop in the first quarter, with consensus forecasts ranging from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent growth. My view is that real GDP in the second quarter should exceed 3.0 percent. Regarding hiring, manufacturers have added, on average, more than 12,500 each month since August, and I would anticipate seeing a comparable figure for July. Nonfarm payrolls should increase by at least the roughly 230,000 average so far in 2014. Other items to look for this week include manufacturing survey results from the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank and the latest numbers for construction spending, consumer sentiment, employment costs and personal income and spending.

Chad Moutray is the chief economist, National Association of Manufacturers