Black Friday Means Spending

So I thought today would be a good time to highlight some spending trends MoldMaking Technology's Economics Editor has recently reported on for us.

Overall, the trend in the activity levels for U.S. manufacturers continues to exceed expectations. In fact, if not for the auto sector and the residential construction sector, the U.S. economy would most likely have entered a recession in 2013. The best way to describe it is that manufacturing is holding up pretty well this year in spite of the persistent headwinds caused by lower consumer confidence and weaker global demand. The trend in our MBI this year has been gradually downward, but the opposite is true for many other manufacturing sector indicators in recent months. There is little to suggest that the recovery will accelerate in the near-term, but the underlying fundamentals continue to strengthen. House prices are rising, interest rates remain low and the employment data are steadily improving. On the consumer side, there is pent-up demand for durable goods, while on the business side there remains a huge amount of cash sitting on the sidelines looking to be invested. All of the ingredients are in place for a more rapid pace of economic expansion in 2014.

His End Market Reports are also good resources.