The Future of Manufacturing

So it seems as though things may actually be turning around and getting better. Slowly. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but with the recent close of the third quarter of 2009, there seems to be more and more positive news stories about the increase of business in the manufacturing industry.

For example, there was a story this week in the Charleston Regional Business Journal that stated the "Southern region sales of metal cutting and metal forming equipment rose in August to $23.59 million, 8.1% higher than July's $21.82 million." Again, let's not get ahead of ourselves - year over year the industry is still down almost 70%, but the point is that this is not the only story of Q3 increases.

In the November 2009 issue of Money magazine, "Mechanical Engineer" was ranked #38 on the list of best jobs in America. Bloomberg.com reported this morning that the New York Empire Factory Index surged to a 5-Year high, up 15.7 points since September, marking "the first time the measure has shown expansion for at least three months since a period ending in January 2008."

While it is clear that this recovery won't be overnight, you can definitely start to see a steady amount of positive stories coming to light.

Read the full articles:

Manufacturing technology equipment sales up across Southeastern United States (Charleston Regional Business Journal)

Best Jobs in America (Money Magazine)

New York Empire Factory Index Surges to 5-Year High (Bloomberg.com)