ARLINGTON, VA-The long delayed recovery in manufacturing should maintain a robust growth trend throughout 2004, according to the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Quarterly Industrial Outlook, a report that analyzes 27 major industries.
First quarter 2004 figures show that 18 of the 27 industries tracked in the report had inflation-adjusted new orders or production above the level of one year ago. While this is a slight retrenchment from 21 industries that showed positive year-over-year growth in the last quarter, in general industries that are growing are doing so at a faster rate while industries that are declining are falling at a slower pace. This number also surpasses the 14 industries that showed growth in third quarter 2003.