By Ken Christensen When Susan Axelrod discovered an overseas market for her quiches 25 years ago, her private bank wasn’t there to help spur the new facet of her business. To make more than one sale at a time, Axelrod needed to take out loans against her receivables—orders that have […]
Author: Kenneth Christensen
Manufacturing Activity Slows After Months of Rapid Growth
By Ken Christensen U.S. factories expanded at a quick pace in the last two quarters, but their momentum will slow in April. The Institute for Supply Management will release its monthly survey results tomorrow, giving insight into the health of the nation’s manufacturing sector. Factories have grown every month since […]
Pent-Up Demand Ramps Up Factory Activity
By Ken Christensen In response to improvements in overall job growth and consumer spending, factories continued to recover last month from their severe hit during the recession. The U.S. manufacturing sector reported faster expansion in March than in February, according to a monthly survey by the Institute for Supply Management. […]
Some Manufacturers Help Produce Their Own Workers
By Ken Christensen Chris Napoleon expects his factory to grow, but there aren’t enough qualified workers to help him do it. The U.S. manufacturing sector is recovering job losses from the recession and has grown every month since July 2009. But because young job seekers think manufacturing is a dead […]
Manufacturing Slows but Grows
By Ken Christensen Expansion in the U.S. manufacturing sector unexpectedly slowed in February, according to Thursday’s report by the Institute for Supply Management. After four consecutive months of accelerating growth for the nation’s factories, the monthly index dropped to 52.4 from 54.1. Any number above 50 indicates expansion, which means […]