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John’s Blog
9-6-10
Dear Friends,
I hope that
everyone had a great holiday as we head into the last month of the
third quarter.
Initial jobless
claims declined by 6,000 the week ending August 29th, the
second straight decline after a month of increases, the Labor
Department said last Thursday.
The four-week
moving average, decreased to 485,500, from 488,000 the prior week for
some good news on unemployment despite the fact that the overall rate
clicked up to 9.6%. The private sector showed an increase of 67,000
jobs beating expectations.
The Institute of Supply Management
released their purchasing managers’ index showing an August reading
of 56.3 up from 55.5 in July. When the ISM reading is over 50 it
indicates expanded manufacturing. The ISM new orders index was down
a little at 53.1 in August from 53.5 in July. The ISM production
index was up to 59.9 in August from 57.0 in July. Taken all together
this is good news for the nation’s factories.
The ISM nonmanufacturing purchasing
managers' index fell to 51.5 in August, from 54.3 in July signifying
a slow down in the service industries.
The real surprise last week was from
the retail sector which came back to life. 2/3s of the 27 retailers
surveyed by Thompson Reuters reported better than forecast sales.
Sales at stores open more than one year increased 3.3%. This will
make retailers re-think their inventory levels if consumers are
starting to come back to life.
Sales of existing homes also improved
in August lifting the mood.
Trucking enjoyed its 8th
consecutive monthly gain according to the American Trucking
Association. The ATA said that July tonnage was up 7.4% year over
year and had increased 1.5% from June. The ATA index increased to
110.2 getting it back to the April level of activity it had slipped
in May and June.
Cass Information confirmed the
increased freight trend by reporting that shipments in August rose
16.5% from the same month last year.
If the consumer keeps buying and
manufacturing continues its upward trend, one should expect that a
tight trucking market will continue for the rest of the year while
freight volumes improve.
I would like to thank Mike Millard for
a tour of the MWV Calmar plant and distribution center in Grandview
MO last week. Mike takes a lot of pride in his DC and it shows as it
has the automation and performance attitude that I really admire.
This is a fine example of American manufacturing at its best.
At Wagner we are enjoying the usual
bump in seasonal volume as we produce thousands of complex floor
ready pallet displays though Wagner’s packaging operations.
E-Commerce fulfillment is active as is our transportation group
in helping in the current capacity shortage.
Should you have any projects on the
horizon please give us a call. I know that many are planning for
2011. I welcome an invitation to the table should you be interested
in an outsourced solution for distribution warehousing, fulfillment,
contract packaging or transportation. Wagner has the team and
technology to help where needed.
Have a great week!
John Wagner Jr
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