Manufacturers in the US are more optimistic about sales and spending this year than they were at the end of last year, while service providers were less upbeat, according to a semiannual survey by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).
Purchasing managers at factories anticipate sales will grow 4.8 percent this year, up from the 4.6 percent they forecast in December last year, and business investment will rise 9.1 percent, more than the prior projection of 7.6 percent, the Tempe, Arizona-based group’s survey showed on Tuesday. By contrast, service providers estimate revenue growth of 3.5 percent this year, less than their December forecast of 4.3 percent, the ISM said.
“With 17 out of 18 industries within the manufacturing sector predicting growth in 2013 over 2012, US manufacturing continues to demonstrate its broad-based strength, efficiency and leadership in the world economy,” Bradley Holcomb, chairman of the group’s factory committee, said in a statement.
According to ISM’s survey, purchasing managers at service providers projected a 3.6 percent increase this year in capital spending, down from a 7 percent gain.
The outlook for employment was little changed compared with the December survey. Service providers still forecast a 1.3 percent increase in staff by the end of this year, the report showed. Manufacturers projected a 0.9 percent rise in employment, compared with a prior forecast of 0.8 percent.
The US economy grew at a 2.5 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, less than the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and limited by a drop in defense outlays, figures showed last week. Recent reports indicate the economy is getting less of a boost from business investment as corporate spending on equipment and software grew at a 3 percent pace from January through March, after an 11.8 percent rate the prior quarter, according to the GDP report.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last