Tag: factory

Trump overstates pace of factory construction

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A key reason President Donald Trump cites for his tariff policy is boosting U.S. manufacturing.

On two recent occasions, Trump has touted a factory-building record on his watch.

“We right now have more factories and plants being built in our country than we’ve ever had before,” Trump told diners at an Iowa restaurant before a Jan. 27 speech.

The data to support this point is mixed, at best. While some data suggests a growth in the biggest factories is continuing under Trump, overall spending rose significantly under Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, but has eased since its Biden-era peak.

White House cites number of big projects in the works

The White House pointed PolitiFact to data collected by Engineered Vision, a company that supplies machine technology, about $1 billion-plus projects. An archived version of a chart from the company’s website from March 11, 2025, shows 30 such projects, while the February 2026 chart shows 46 projects.

A closer look at the newly listed projects shows that some of them had been in the planning stages prior to Trump’s second term.

Federal data on the number of private U.S. manufacturing establishments also supports Trump’s statement. Preliminary 2025 figures show that the number of those facilities hit a new high in the second quarter of Trump’s second term.

Given the long turnaround time required for factory construction, it’s unclear whether the increases during the first six months of Trump’s second term can be attributed to his policies, or whether they reflect projects that were already in the pipeline when he took office.

Beyond these two data points, evidence from federal sources casts doubt on the notion that factory building continues to reach new heights under Trump.

Construction spending has declined under Trump

Experts told PolitiFact the most reliable metric to use for judging Trump’s assertion is spending on manufacturing construction, because it’s produced by the federal government, has a long track record and covers expenditures on all sizes of facilities, not just the biggest.

Federal statistics for construction spending on manufacturing show a rapid rise under Biden, followed by a dip after Trump entered office in 2025.

Paul Donovan, the global chief economist at UBS Wealth Management, told The New York Times that spending on factory construction rose from about 3.5% of the manufacturing economy in 2021 to 8% in 2024, a 40-year high.

But this trajectory has sagged under Trump, experts say.

“The past four years have been the most significant peacetime period for manufacturing construction since the data was first gathered,” said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, an advocacy group. While the level remains elevated under Trump, he said, “the peak was around 14 months ago.”

Tara Sinclair, a George Washington University economist who coauthored a paper on manufacturing construction while serving as deputy assistant treasury secretary for macroeconomics under Biden, said spending on factory construction “is still quite a bit higher than pre-2021, but it does look like the boom is over and has somewhat reversed.”

Sinclair and other experts said a major reason for the rise under Biden was a pair of bipartisan bills he signed — the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act — plus one he signed that was backed only by Democrats, the Inflation Reduction Act. Provisions in each of these bills directed federal spending and other incentives toward manufacturing, especially for items such as semiconductors.

Trump’s policies have cut both ways on manufacturing construction

Scott Lincicome, vice president at the libertarian Cato Institute, said he’s not a fan of some aspects of the Biden legislation but they were effective in boosting manufacturing construction. Trump’s policies, he said, have sometimes worked at cross purposes.

Lincicome said Trump’s changes to the way companies expense construction costs have bolstered construction spending, as have the administration’s efforts to streamline permitting processes.

However, Lincicome said Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs have fostered uncertainty among business decisionmakers. The tariffs also have raised costs for foreign-sourced materials needed to build factories, hurting the cost-benefit balance.

Trump said today’s factory boom exceeds anything else in U.S. history. But Lincicome said in addition to the boom under Biden, today’s level was likely exceeded by the 20-year period from World War II to the early 1960s when the U.S. was “the only game in town, because half the rest of the world was bombed out from the war and the other half was communist.”

Our ruling

Trump said, “We right now have more factories and plants being built in our country than we’ve ever had before.”

Factory construction remains at a high level compared with recent history, but most of the increase came under Biden, and there are signs that that boom has faded under Trump, particularly when measured by overall spending on construction of manufacturing facilities, which experts say is a key metric.

Analysts said some of Trump’s policies have aided companies seeking to build factories, but other policies — including his tariffs that have increased both uncertainty and prices for foreign materials needed for construction — have offset some of those gains.

We rate the statement Half True.

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February 9, 2026
What Wolfspeed needs to wake up its very quiet Chatham County factory
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Wolfspeed’s new materials factory near Siler City, North Carolina, in December 2025. The company is currently meeting its demand through other facilities.

Brian Gordon

bgordon@newsobserver.com

I’m Brian Gordon, tech reporter for The News & Observer, and this is Open Source, a weekly newsletter on business, labor and technology in North Carolina.

Wolfspeed has pivoted before. Until the early 2020s, the large Durham company made both LED lights and a unique semiconductor called silicon carbide. Then, faced with subsidized competition out of China, Wolfspeed ditched its LED division and its original name (Cree) to become, as they say in the business, a “pure-play” silicon carbide supplier.

Today, the chipmaker isn’t diversifying from silicon carbide, but four months removed from bankruptcy, it aspires to evolve again. “At the end of the day, what we’re doing is we’re pretty much looking to pivot away from being a one-trick pony focused on EVs,” Wolfspeed CEO Robert Feurle told investors on an earnings call Wednesday.

Under his predecessor, Wolfspeed bet big on a U.S. electric vehicle revolution powered by lighter, hyperefficient silicon carbide chips. It took out massive loans to finance new SiC factories in New York State and North Carolina’s Chatham County, debt that hastened its plunge into Chapter 11. The company’s creditors became its new shareholders post-bankruptcy; its old shareholders got pennies on the dollar.

The restructured chipmaker now wants its silicon carbide in more places while spending less money. Wolfspeed has officially closed its 150-millimeter device factory in Durham and reduced its total workforce by roughly one-third in the year leading up to bankruptcy. It made additional layoffs in North Carolina this fall. Such efforts have contributed to $200 million in annual operating expense savings, Wolfspeed reported this week.

Its Chatham County materials factory near Siler City is finished but largely dormant due to lack of demand, a massive gray complex surrounded by empty parking lots. What could revive this promised 1,800-worker plant?

A surge in new EV sales is one answer. Yet while electric vehicles remain its largest segment, Wolfspeed wants to expand more into defense and aerospace, materials (supplying silicon carbide to other manufacturers), and energy. Like many, it has identified data centers as a growth area: Wolfspeed SiC chips can be used in the solid-state transformers and cooling apparatuses that keep these proliferating facilities humming.

Wall Street didn’t love what Wolfspeed reported this week. Its stock slumped 10% as the company missed earnings expectations. The chipmaker also lowered its future revenue guidance, which it attributed to elevated sales from customers rushing orders last quarter before the Durham device factory closed. In an analyst note this week, the investment firm Susquehanna also noted “continuing weakness in EVs.”

“Overall, while results were largely disappointing, we look forward to learning more on how the company intends [to] transform the business to better capture its opportunity in SiC, particularly in Data Centers,” Susquehanna wrote. The firm dropped its Wolfspeed target share price from $20 to $15. (For those who remember the company’s shares recently hovering around $1, its Chapter 11 restructuring makes before-and-after price comparisons apples to oranges.)

Another salvation for the Siler City plant may lie in something Wolfspeed announced last month: a new 300-millimeter SiC wafer. A substrate of this size isn’t for power devices in products like electric vehicles. That’s what 200-millimeter silicon carbide wafers are for. Wolfspeed envisions 300mm wafers will be applied “beyond” power devices — like in the optical glass of future virtual reality systems. Or to improve thermal conductivity within, yes, data centers.

On Wednesday’s call, an investor asked Feurle if he foresees interest in 300mm silicon carbide wafers jumpstarting the Siler City factory. The CEO said Wolfspeed is ready to scale when demand “picks up.” He then offered the glass-half-full view of having an underused North Carolina factory: A company conscious of future spending already has it built.

The Durham semiconductor chipmaker Wolfspeed celebrated the “topping out” of its Chatham County facility near Siler City on March 26, 2024. Construction on the site began the previous June. Brian Gordon bgordon@newsobserver.com

Clearing my cache
- Raleigh software provider Pendo has acquired its fourth company in the past year and a half. Its latest buy is the product management software firm Chisel Labs, which has dual headquarters in California and India.
- Wells Fargo, one of North Carolina’s largest employers, is laying off 112 people in Raleigh.
- Siemens Energy vows to grow its local manufacturing footprint to the tune of $421 million and 500 more jobs across Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Raleigh. Data centers and broader electrification needs are driving this announcement, the company said. Siemens also pledged new investments in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida and New York.
- The City of Durham won’t consider a surveillance software that critics feared could help the federal government assist in immigration raids. Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews said this software, from Peregrine Technologies, would help the city establish a “mission control center” to solve crimes faster.
- Duke University professor Dan Ariely appeared in more than 700 of the latest Epstein files, including one where he inquired about a “redhead” he wished to see again. “My correspondence with him was infrequent, largely logistical pertaining to conferences and academia, and was often mediated by assistants,” Ariely wrote in an email to The N&O on Monday. “Importantly, there was zero financial, professional, or ongoing relationship.” A well-known behavioral psychologist and economist, Ariely sparked past controversy around manipulated data that appeared in his research on honesty.
- Pro-union Amazon workers and supporters plan to protest the e-commerce company starting this weekend at three Durham facilities as part of the independent union Carolina Amazonians for Solidarity and Empowerment’s push to organize in the Bull City.
National Tech Happenings
- Tech stocks took a beating as investors forecast new AI tools like Claude eating into company revenues. Bitcoin has tumbled so far in 2026 too.
- The buzzy thing in tech this week is Moltbook, a social media site with only AI chatbot contributors.
- Chinese cars are effectively banned in the United States market due to restrictions on China-based automotive software. But if that ever changes (and President Trump has hinted it could), then U.S. customers will have several high-quality options, according to journalists who recently test-drove Chinese vehicles.
- “Everyone is stealing TV,” writes The Verge, ahead of this weekend’s big football game. From sketchy sites to rogue streaming boxes, there are more ways for people to watch without paying for numerous subscriptions. BTW, as a bitter Bills fan, I hope the Patriots lose by 40.
Thanks for reading! And for those interested in higher education happenings in North Carolina, The News & Observer has a new newsletter called Higher Stakes from our new higher education reporter, Jane Winik Sartwell. You can sign up for it, and all other N&O newsletters, here.

This story was originally published February 6, 2026 at 9:13 AM.

Related Stories from Raleigh News & Observer

Brian Gordon

The News & Observer

Brian Gordon is the Business & Technology reporter for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun. He writes about jobs, startups and big tech developments unique to the North Carolina Triangle. Brian previously worked as a senior statewide reporter for the USA Today Network. Please contact him via email, phone, or Signal at 919-861-1238.
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Brian Gordon

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February 6, 2026
China Outpaces Rest of World in Working Robots

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There are an estimated 4,664,000 working industrial robots in the world, according to the International Federation of Robotics. More than two million of them are in China. And don’t count on anyone catching up soon. According to the report, the country installed nearly 300,000 new robots last year, and was responsible for 54% of all robotic deployments across the globe in 2024. For comparison’s sake, the United States managed about one-tenth that figure, adding 34,000 industrial bots during the same time frame.

China’s robot boom coincides with the country taking on the role of a global manufacturing leader. According to the New York Times, China now holds just under one-third of all global manufacturing output, up from just 6% of the pie at the turn of the 21st century. That makes China’s current output bigger than the combined manufacturing power of the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

That gap seems likely to continue to widen. While China’s robotic installations increased year-over-year by about 7%, according to the International Federation of Robotics, the next-biggest robo-reliant nations all saw their total installations dip. Japan declined by 4%, the US dropped by 9%, South Korea slumped by 3%, and Germany slipped by 5%.

The IFR doesn’t see China’s automation adoption stopping any time soon, either. It projects the country will see an average of 10% growth annually through 2028, driven primarily by the introduction of industrial robotics into new markets. China’s biggest areas of growth in the last year included food and beverage, rubber and plastic, and textile production, whereas the United States continues to see robotics primarily applied to more traditional manufacturing fields like automotives.

Interestingly, while China’s robotics domination does appear driven in part by new technological developments like artificial intelligence, the country isn’t that into humanoid robots compared to other industrial forces. The New York Times attributed that to the fact that it’s difficult to build a humanoid bot entirely within the Chinese supply chain, where domestically made sensors and semiconductors can be harder to come by. Meanwhile, companies like Tesla and Boston Dynamics keep promising humanoid industrial workers that’ll likely carry a steep price tag.

Maybe the biggest enabler of China’s robot boom, though, appears to be human labor. According to the Times, the country has produced a large workforce of skilled electricians and programmers who can install and maintain robots. America is slowly catching up on that front, with the employment of electricians booming—though there remains a massive programmer shortage unlikely to be eased by the fact that the Trump administration’s new, boosted fee for H1-B visa applicants will keep skilled labor overseas.

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AJ Dellinger

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September 27, 2025
Increase Manufacturing Efficiency With No Quality Compromise – Aha!NOW

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If you’re trying to produce more in the same period of time with the same resources, there are chances that the quality of the product may deteriorate. Here are some tips and tweaks that you can implement at your factory to increase the manufacturing efficiency while making sure you do not compromise on the quality of the products. ~ Ed.

The manufacturing process itself takes time to manufacture if you really think about it. Every element is as complex as the moving parts in any machine, and while all systems can use improvement, messing with a certain element and failing to consider the wider context it operates in can cause problems. We can’t just take the fan belt out of a car or replace it with an inappropriate substitute and expect the same performance from such a vehicle.

The same logic can apply to your approach to optimizing your efficiency. “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” can sometimes leave out the possibility for repairs that genuinely work, but the principle isn’t a bad one.

In this post, we hope to help those struggling with this balancing act. After all, passing on the cost of savings in production can help, but if you’re unable to sustain the same quality as before, the process isn’t worth it. We hope the advice we give can reverse that direction.

7 Ways to Increase Manufacturing Efficiency Retaining Quality Standards

Here are the tips and tweaks from the experienced and the experts to help you make more money.

Perfect Your Storage Cycle

It may seem that storage is part of the process that comes well after you’ve manufactured something, and that raw materials need little in the way of sophisticated planning outside of being safely present, easy to access, and secure. But of course, that’s not always the case.

That’s because storage layout directly impacts every aspect of production time and quality. For example, materials that sit in the wrong conditions or stay on shelves too long can degrade quite easily, which eats into the discount of your bulk purchase.

It’s also pretty obvious that poor organization will make you suffer unnecessary delays. Investing all you can in a well-planned storage system is wise, because it keeps materials close to their point of use, rotates stock effectively, and also ensures proper environmental conditions for sensitive items.

You might benefit from implementing a more thoughtful reorganization of your storage areas and as such limit hours of wasted movement and searching time. So perhaps it’s not your factory line that needs the upgrade, it’s your warehouse, your storing facilities, and your loading bays. A new indexed or barcode scanning system might be best, or investing in new storage movements facilities like a new fleet of forklifts or conveyors could help. Perhaps you just need to hire a warehouse manager, who could pay for their own salary tenfold each year in improved efficiency.

Frequent, Scheduled Maintenance

Maintenance goes far beyond routine cleaning and basic upkeep. Each piece of equipment needs specific attention, such as monitoring belt tensions and gear alignments. Machine operators, if you train them well, become skilled at noticing subtle changes in equipment performance through sound and vibration.

This awareness, combined with regular professional maintenance, keeps production running smoothly and equipment lasting longer. It’s essential that you implement a healthy documentation of maintenance activities to give the entire management team data about equipment performance.

Maximum Capacity Measures

Ultimately, every production outfit, no matter how large or sprawling or impressive, will have production capacities. This is especially strained during seasonal periods of course, but still worth keeping in mind.

It’s important for managers and business owners to understand that while machines might technically handle higher volumes, human operators and material storage limitations often set the real maximum capacity, and it’s important not to push these constraints but invest in a wider operation if you hope to achieve more.

After all, running equipment at its absolute limit will almost certainly cause increased downtime and quality issues. Production targets based on actual operational capacity, rather than theoretical maximums, even if you have to renegotiate deadlines with your clients, will help with consistent output and better product quality. A good investment is to have regular analysis of capacity usage patterns, because then you can see where additions or alterations to your production timeline are possible.

It also means avoiding overbooking yourself and struggling to meet the demands of multiple clients, which will almost always cause disappointment if you’re not careful and disciplined enough to avoid it.

Offloading Waste/Scrap

Good waste management is usually a worthwhile practice to invest in for obvious reasons. But if your business deals with valuable materials or those that may hold value or purpose beyond your own uses, optimized or sustainable waste management alters what could be a pure cost center into a potential value stream. To start with, you’ll have to integrate proper sorting and handling of recyclable materials, which opens up additional revenue if you can find a worthwhile sale. This isn’t as difficult as you may imagine give creative reuse of manufacturing byproducts.

For example, unused biofuel and scrap metal could provide two options. At the very least you might work with sustainable partners to help reduce the impact of your wastage, which could possibly help you make use of more recycled output once again.

Private Safety Audits

Instead of bringing in outside consultants who might not understand your specific setup, running your own regular safety reviews makes a lot of sense, as long as they can be conducted by another part of your department who will be utterly stringent.

Walking through your facility with fresh eyes every month or so will spot issues you might normally avoid. Of course, it is worth investing in a private auditor too if you think that you may be too biased, or if you have huge inspections coming up and you want to meet even more stringent standards before they come.

A great approach is to include your floor workers in these reviews because they’re the ones who know exactly where things could be safer or work better. Moreover, when such staff see their suggestions being taken seriously, they’re much more likely to speak up about other improvements in the future and not sweep their difficulties under the rug at all.

Custom Machinery

A manufacturing line might have been curated thus far with standard machines purchased from catalogs and integrated as part of a logical line. That’s perfectly normal of course, as every manufacturing setup is different and some modularity is important. It’s not like you’re going to invent every machine you need yourself to begin with either, as most practical purposes have already been made available and sold at scale, allowing you to enjoy some of those savings.

However, a simple adjustment to a conveyor system or a modified attachment might solve your problem without requiring a fully custom unit. A high-quality set of precision bearings could be a worthwhile investment for custom machinery, allowing you to gain further functionality over time. Incremental improvements like that can add up to a setup that’s perfectly fitting to your needs.

Supplier Alternatives

Nobody likes to think about their suppliers letting them down, but it happens. Sometimes it happens often if there are shortages or if a strange little quasi-trade war is taking place (and unfortunately, in today’s political reality, this is unlikely to be that infrequent).

Having a backup plan doesn’t mean you don’t trust your main suppliers, of course, as it’s just good business sense. Building relationships with two or three reliable suppliers for your essential materials can save you massive troubles down the line where you scramble to put those in at the time. You may pay touch more sometimes, but that’s better than having your whole production line grind to a halt because of a delayed delivery. If you host frequent chats with your suppliers for reviews it can also help you spot potential issues early and often lead to better service overall.

Wrapping Up

Perfecting your storage cycle, scheduling frequent maintenance, measuring the maximum capacity, offloading the waste, conducting private safety audits, customizing your machinery, and building relationships with alternative suppliers.

With this advice, we’re certain you’ll be able to continue improving manufacturing efficiency without laying off staff or replacing with ineffective material replacements.

Over to you

If you have a manufacturing facility, what measures do you take to produce more in the same duration keeping the quality standards? Share your tips and experiences in the comments below.

Disclaimer: Though the views expressed are of the author’s own, this article has been checked for its authenticity of information and resource links provided for a better and deeper understanding of the subject matter. However, you’re suggested to make your diligent research and consult subject experts to decide what is best for you. If you spot any factual errors, spelling, or grammatical mistakes in the article, please report at [email protected]. Thanks.

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Sarah Domeier

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February 19, 2025
Blommer to Close Chicago Chocolate Factory After 85 Years

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After more than eight decades, Blommer Chocolate is closing its factory at the end of May. The factory opened in 1939, and while chocolate connoisseurs can’t find Blommer by its name on store shelves, the factory makes confections for some of the country’s more popular brands. But for most Chicagoans, especially ones close to downtown Chicago and neighborhoods like West Loop, River West, and West Town near the factory, locals remained enamored due to the random aroma of chocolate wafting from the building into surrounding neighborhoods.

The Sun-Times reports the closure at 600 W. Kinzie Street will cost 250 jobs. The headquarters will remain in Chicago at the Merchandise Mart. In a news release, Blommer mentions a shift in operations. They’re opening a research and development center this fall at the Mart. A Blommer rep didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Chocolate making can be a thorny subject, where foreign farmers are often exploited. Despite its place as a civic institution, Blommer hasn’t escaped controversy over the years. In 2005, the EPA cited the factory for alleged clean-air violations due to smells coming out of the building. The federal agency responded to an anonymous complaint and argued the cocoa dust wafting from the factory was pollution.

One of the city’s best Korean restaurants, Perilla Korean American Fare, stands across the street from the factory. Co-owner Thomas Oh tells Eater that he often uses Blommer as a landmark. Customers might not be familiar with the intersection of Kinzie and Milwaukee, but they instantly know the factory. Before Blommer closed its store in 2020, staff would often stop in to purchase chocolate-covered almonds and other treats.

Oh did recall a quirky episode immediately after Perilla opened in 2019 when a customer complained on Yelp about the chocolate smell on their way to the restaurant: “How does that have to do with anything we are providing you?” Oh says with a laugh.

There’s no word on what will happen to the 5.5-acre site. Oh says he hopes for a new development that will bring more potential customers to the area.

Chicago, where a baseball stadium is named after the founder of a chewing gum company, is often called “the candy capital of the universe.” The National Confectioners Association was founded 140 years ago in Chicago. But that title might be in jeopardy after Blommer’s shutter. As is the custom, Chicagoans often will add an extra “s” at the end of the company’s name. It’s “Blommers” in the same tradition of “The Jewels” and “Soldiers Field.”

A worker at Mars’ Goose Island campus hard at work.
Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago

Earlier this year, Mars opened a new global research and development hub on its Goose Island campus. This is where experimental M&M’s flavors and Snickers test bars are made. The $42 million wing will allow for more experiments, and hopefully more variety on store shelves.

Blommer says it’s investing $100 million in other production facilities in Pennsylvania, California; and Ontario, Canada. Fuji Oil Holdings, a Japanese company, bought Blommers in 2018 and they closed down the factory store in 2020. They’re the No. 1 cocoa processor in North America, according to Crain’s, which broke the story.

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Ashok Selvam

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March 25, 2024

German Manufacturing Orders Unexpectedly Soar on Aircraft Purchases

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By Ed Frankl

German manufacturing orders jumped unexpectedly in December, driven by bumper aircraft purchases, although excluding larger orders they still fell, reflecting a difficult environment for the sector.

Orders were 8.9% higher than the previous month, German statistics office Destatis said Tuesday, flipping expectations that they would fall 0.5%, according to a consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

It reverses many of the losses of previous months, including a 4% decline in October and a 11% dive in July, which were at the time seen as indicative of a manufacturing slump in Germany. On year, orders in December were 2.7% higher than the same month in 2022.

However, the intake was swayed by large-scale orders, in particular of aircraft, likely swelled by Airbus orders, according to Destatis. The airline manufacturer received 807 orders in the month.

For aircraft, ships and trains, incoming orders were more than twice as high in December as November. Metal products and electrical equipment orders also rose by double-digit percentages.

However, in the country’s key car industry, orders fell 15%, while they also dipped in mechanical engineering and in the chemical industry, according to the data. Excluding major purchases, orders fell by 2.2% on month.

Symbolizing Germany’s still-stuttering manufacturing base, orders were 5.9% lower in the whole of 2023 compared with 2022, Destatis said, amid a global slump in demand and tight financing conditions.

Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@wsj.com

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February 5, 2024

U.S. manufacturing sector shrinks for 14th straight month in December

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The numbers: A closely watched index that measures U.S. manufacturing activity rose by 0.7 percentage point to 47.4 in December, according to the Institute for Supply Management on Wednesday.

Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal had forecast the index to rise to 47.2.

Any number below 50 reflects a shrinking economy. Manufacturing has contracted for 14 straight months.

Key details: The key new-orders index fell 1.2 percentage points to 47.1 in December.

Production rose 1.8 percentage points to 50.3 from the prior month. Employment picked up slightly but remained below the 50-percentage-point threshold.

Prices fell 4.7 percentage points to 45.2. That’s the biggest drop since May 2023. Inventories were down 0.5 percentage point to 44.3 in December.

Customer inventories dipped back below 50 last month to 48.1 in December.

Only one industry, primary metals, reported growth in December, while 16 reported contractions.

Layoffs picked up in December, concentrated in the computer and electronics, machinery, and food and beverage sectors.

Big picture: The contraction in manufacturing is the longest since 2000-01, after the dot-com bubble exploded, said Jay Hawkins, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Economists said that depressed capital spending has been the key drag on the factory sector, along with weak global trade. They expect that a sharp drop in long-term interest rates will improve the picture, but the change won’t happen overnight.

What the ISM said: Tim Fiore, chair of the ISM manufacturing survey committee, was relatively upbeat about the data. He said the sector was closing the year in a “really good position” and forecast that the ISM factory index would rise above the 50-percentage-point threshold by March. Fiore said he also expects the inventory number to pick up in coming months.

What economists said: “The survey indicates that conditions in the factory sector remain unusually weak and that output is likely to continue declining for at least a few more months,” said Andrew Hunter, deputy chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

Market reaction: Stocks
DJIA

SPX
were lower in early trading on Wednesday, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
rose to just below 4%.

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January 3, 2024
Health of several key sectors, including the U.S. consumer, plus an outlook from Fed’s Powell on radar this coming week

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Recession fears are rising. Nothing beats fear better than good information and that’s what we will get this week. Investors and economists will get good insight into the mood of U.S. consumers and hear the last words of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell ahead of the central bank’s next interest-rate meeting on Dec. 12-13.

November consumer confidence

Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. Eastern

Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expect that consumer’s view on the outlook have soured over the past few weeks. Geopolitical…

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November 26, 2023
U.S. economy growing only at a subdued rate in early November, S&P Global says

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The numbers: The U.S. economy expanded but at a relatively subdued pace in early November, latest data from S&P Global show.

The S&P Global “flash” U.S. services index rose to 50.8 in November from 50.6 in the prior month, the highest level in four months. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a reading of 50.2.

On the…

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November 24, 2023
Worker Is Crushed by a Robot That Mistook Him for a Box | Entrepreneur

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Police are investigating a horrific incident that occurred in South Korea when a man was crushed to death by an industrial robot that mistook him for a box of vegetables.

According to a Korean news agency, the victim, a worker in his 40s, was inspecting the robot’s sensor at a vegetable-packaging plant in South Gyeongsand province. The company uses collaborative robots or “cobots” to handle and package bell peppers and other vegetables for export to other Asian countries.

But one of these robot’s sensors malfunctioned, causing it to confuse the man for a box and grab him. The mechanical arm hurled the man against a conveyor belt, crushing his face and chest. Despite being rushed to the hospital, he died of head and chest injuries. Police have not released the victim’s name but said he was at the factory to inspect the robotic arm.

Authorities are investigating whether the robot had any technical defects or safety issues. One theory is that man may have inadvertently triggered the robot’s reaction by moving near it with a box in his hands. He could also have stood too close to the robot while carrying the box.

Related: Jack in the Box Rolls Out Robots to Flip Burgers and Serve Drinks

Not the first time

Collaborative robots have been heralded for increased efficiency, reducing human errors, and boosting productivity. But incidents like the one in the vegetable plant raise concerns about their safety. Tragic mishaps have happened before. A robot at an auto parts factory crushed and seriously injured a worker last March, while another robot fatally crushed a worker at a milk factory the previous year, according to Fox News.

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November 9, 2023
Austin Pets Alive! | Factory Mattress

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Sep 29, 2023

Whether your dog sleeps curled up at the foot of your bed, or your cat sleeps resting peacefully at the top of your pillow, one thing can be guaranteed — a bed without a pet is not a bed at all.

At APA!, we dream of a day that every shelter pet is invited into a home — foster or adoptive, with the opportunity to jump into a bed and snuggle up with a human who cares for them. Until then, we’ll be here to give them the love and care they need and deserve until they find a family to call their very own. And right now, our friends at Factory Mattress are supporting our mission to provide resources to the pets in our care!

Now through September, Factory Mattress is donating 5% of all mattress proceeds in the Greater Austin Area to Austin Pets Alive! — that’s some cozy support! “Factory Mattress wanted to work with APA! because we’re an Austin family business and strive to give back to the community as often as we can. Our family wouldn’t be complete without our pets, so we wanted to support APA! to help others add furry friends to their families,” says Stephen Frey, Factory Mattress’ President.

Factory Mattress has a long history of supporting local nonprofits.This philanthropic business has supported missions such as SAFE Alliance and has participated in The Statesman Season For Caring for 10 years! We’re honored to be included in this family owned and operated business’ giving program.

Our organization depends on the support of our community. Our programs are successful because of individuals and businesses who believe in what we do, who believe that every pet deserves a chance at life so when a business like Factory Mattress asks to fundraise on our behalf, we are nothing but grateful!

“Our corporate partners are critical to our lifesaving mission, allowing us to keep Austin the largest No Kill city in the country. Businesses and their employees who support APA! can feel good knowing their donations are used across our innovative programs that help to save Central Texas’ most vulnerable cats and dogs, ” says APA!’s Sr. Corporate Relations Officer, Tara McKenney.

This fundraiser supports pets like Ruthie and Rio. Ruthie has spent over a year in the shelter. She started her journey with APA! as a tiny puppy fighting parvovirus. After surviving parvo, she was adopted and was returned to the shelter after living with her family for 4 years. The beginning of September will mark Rio’s 1 year of waiting for a family. This young kitty came to our organization in need of medical support; she was found with a broken jaw. She’s had breaks from the shelter by going into foster homes, then being returned. Wouldn’t it be great if these two pets could get tucked into a bed (whether pet or human) knowing they’ve made it home?

Thank you to our friends at Factory Mattress for joining our lifesaving journey by generously offering this fundraising opportunity!

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September 29, 2023
Landmark Domino Sugar Refinery reopening as office tower along Brooklyn waterfront

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The historic Domino Sugar Refinery on the Brooklyn waterfront is officially opening Wednesday, following more than a decade of renovation to convert it to a high-end office building complete with plans for a bar, indoor pool and fitness center.

The opening marks the latest milestone in the ongoing transformation of once-industrial Williamsburg, reshaping the skyline along the East River.

The 15-story, all-electric structure now dubbed the “Refinery at Domino” is just north of the Williamsburg Bridge. Developers Two Trees Management described it as “the crown jewel” of its larger 11-acre Domino Sugar Factory site — once home to a booming sugar refinery — that also includes the popular Domino Park.

Max Touhey

12-foot opening between all-electric Refinery building and landmark masonry facade.

The factory was once the tallest building on the waterfront, with the original structure dating to the 1880s. The famous brick facade and arched windows were retained and act as a shell for the new building within, topped by a domed glass penthouse with 360-degree views.

A 12-foot gap between the new building and the old is filled with a vertical garden of trees and plants open to the elements.

David Lombino, managing director of Two Trees, described it as a “living landmark.”

“You look around the city, I’m not sure there’s another more ambitious landmarked project than this one,” he told the Daily News during a recent tour of the site. “I think for a lot of folks who looked at this project, the landmarked status of the refinery building was a big turnoff. We looked at it as an opportunity to do something really unique, really iconic, and hopefully really successful.”

To pay homage to the building’s history, a replica of the iconic “Domino Sugar” sign has been added on the top of the building, and the original will be redone and installed in the lobby. The refinery’s ground floor will be open to the public, with retail and permanent rest rooms for Domino Park.

Todd Maisel/New York Daily News

The old Domino Sugar factory in Williamsburg Brooklyn is being partially torn down, with parts of it to make up new housing along the East River. Many of the historical features will also be preserved.October 30, 2013.

The penthouse will have amenities for workers, including a bar, and half will be used as an events space. Office workers will also have access to an indoor pool and fitness center.

Sugar production was one of Brooklyn’s most important industries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the refinery didn’t cease operations until 2004; it was landmarked three years later.

When finished in 2027, the larger site will also include three residential buildings and another office tower, plus Domino Square, an extension to the park that will include amphitheater seating and ice-skating in the winter. The 1-acre plaza is expected to open next summer.

Max Touhey

The Refinery at Domino and activated Domino Park – photo by Max Touhey

Work on the building is ongoing but Lombino said it could have tenants by the end of the year. He said about 4,500 employees could be based out of the Refinery, roughly the same number that worked in the sugar factory in its heyday.

Two Trees acquired the site for $185 million in 2012 and has spent about $150 million renovating the Refinery. Early iterations of the Refinery redesign included more than 2,000 residential units, though that plan was scrapped.

Two Trees is one of the borough’s biggest developers, perhaps best known for its role in transforming DUMBO, another waterfront Brooklyn neighborhood.

Max Touhey

Refinery Penthouse

“It aligns with where we’re seeing demand in the office sector,” Lombino said of the decision to build offices despite the broader industry limbo. “People are less eager to work in central business districts in Midtown and lower Manhattan. There’s a desire to have work closer to home. Williamsburg, north Brooklyn as a whole has seen an incredible influx of talent in the past 10-plus years. The idea is folks would rather work in a highly amenitized space closer to their home, with a surrounding park and exciting neighborhood than schlep into some of the central business districts.”

But the 13-year renovation journey was not always a sweet one: There were protests from locals early on expressing fears about gentrification, and a construction worker on a residential building site part of the bigger Domino Sugar campus fell to his death in 2016.

Two Trees is putting down roots elsewhere on the Williamsburg waterfront: Its ambitious “River Ring” development nearby could bring two massive towers, a park, public beaches and breakwaters. But Lombino says the state would need to introduce a new tax abatement program “in order for the math to work” on the project, after the lucrative 421-a property tax exemption expired last year.

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Téa Kvetenadze

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September 26, 2023
U.S. factory orders plunge in July after four straight gains

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Orders for U.S. manufactured goods fell a sharp 2.1% in July, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. This is the first decline after four straight monthly gains.

Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal were expecting a 2.3% fall in July.

Excluding transportation, orders rose 0.8% in July after a 0.3% gain in the prior month.

Economists said that higher interest rates are putting pressure on business equipment spending.

Durable-goods orders fell 5.2 % in July, unrevised from the data that was released on Aug. 24. Non-durable goods orders rose 1.1%.

Orders for nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft, rose 0.1% in July, also unrevised from prior estimate.

U.S. stocks
DJIA

SPX
were trading lower on Tuesday following the long holiday weekend.

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September 5, 2023
Durable-goods orders rise for third month in a row — if Boeing is taken out of the equation

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The numbers: Orders for long-lasting goods rose in July for the third month in a row if recent ups and downs at Boeing are set aside, suggesting the struggling industrial side of the U.S. economy may have stabilized.

Durable-goods orders increased 0.5% in July if transportation — automobiles and planes — are excluded. Boeing
BA,
-3.16%
orders often seesaw in the summer months and distort the true condition of U.S. manufacturing.

Headline orders, which include transportation, sank by 5.2% last month, the government said Thursday.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a 4.1% drop in July following a 4.4% spike in June. The topsy-turvy results in the past two months are almost entirely due to Boeing.

A better measure of the health of U.S. manufacturing, known as core orders, edged up 0.1% in July. That figure omits defense and transportation and is a proxy for broader business investment.

Business investment is running slightly ahead of last year’s pace, but it has weakened considerably, and many manufacturers are treading water.

Key details: Orders for commercial planes soared 71% in June and sank 44% in July, explaining the wildly divergent headline numbers in the past two months.

Orders for new cars rose 0.8% in July.

The transportation segment is a large and volatile category that often exaggerates the ups and downs in manufacturing.

Outside the transportation sector, new orders rose in most major categories.

Business investment has tapered off since last year, however, and companies have become more cautious in the face of rising interest rates, still-high inflation and a shift in consumer spending toward services.

Durable goods are items like planes, cars, appliances and computers. Orders rise in an expanding economy and shrink in a contracting one.

Big picture: Maybe the industrial side of the economy has hit bottom, and maybe it hasn’t. Getting a clear picture might have to wait until interest rates stop rising.

Higher borrowing costs typically stunt the economy and discourage businesses from hiring, spending and investing.

Looking ahead: “Businesses are showing caution amidst the higher rate environment and what it means for demand down the line,” said economist Ali Jaffery at CIBC Economics.

Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.28%
and S&P 500
SPX,
+0.24%
were set to open mixed in Thursday trades.

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August 24, 2023
New York Empire State, Philadelphia Fed factory indexes mixed but show signs of optimism

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The numbers: Two U.S. regional gauges of manufacturing sentiment showed signs in June that they may be improving after a rough patch, according to data released Thursday.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s manufacturing index slipped further to a reading of negative 13.7 in June from negative 10.4 in the prior month, but economists had expected a reading of negative 14.8, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of economists. This is the tenth straight negative reading.

The…

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June 15, 2023
German Manufacturing Orders Fell Unexpectedly in April on Low Foreign Demand
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```
By Ed Frankl
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New orders at German factories fell unexpectedly in April, signaling continued declining demand in the country’s key manufacturing sector especially among foreign orders.

Manufacturing orders ticked down 0.4% in April on month, after a plunge of 10.9% in March, according to seasonally and calendar adjusted-data released Tuesday by the German statistics office Destatis.
The reading upturns expectations of a 3.0% rise seen by economists in a poll by The Wall Street Journal.

Foreign orders dropped by 1.8% in April on the previous month, though domestic orders rose by 1.6%, Destatis said, indicating that demand for German goods is subdued outside its borders.

Data from a purchasing managers survey showed weakening sentiment at German factories in May, suggesting that the sector could continue to weaken.

The fall was driven by declining construction of ships, railways, aircraft, and army vehicles, orders of which dived 34% on month, and for the manufacture of machinery and equipment, where it tumbled 6.2%.

However, electrical equipment and motor vehicles saw orders rise 12.0% and 2.4%, respectively.

Excluding the more volatile component of large-scale orders, new orders rose by 1.4% in April on month.

Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@wsj.com
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June 5, 2023
April U.S. factory orders rise for fourth gain in five months

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Orders for manufactured goods rose 0.4% in April, the Commerce Department said Monday. It is the fourth increase in factory-goods orders in the past five months.

Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal were expecting a 0.6% rise.

The gain was led by transportation equipment. Excluding that sector, orders were down 0.2%.

Durable-goods orders rose 1.1% in April, unrevised from the initial estimate last week. The advance durable-goods data is always released ahead of the full report. Nondurable-goods orders fell 0.1% in April.

Orders for nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft, rose a revised 1.3% in April, down slightly from the prior estimate of a 1.4% increase. The gain was led by computers and machinery.

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June 5, 2023
Durable-goods orders get a boost from military spending

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The numbers: Orders for manufactured goods jumped 1.1% in April largely because of the military, but business investment also rose sharply in a positive sign for the economy.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.8% decline. Durable goods are items meant to last a long time.

Yet orders fell 0.2% if transportation is excluded, the government said Friday. The transportation segment is a large and volatile category that often exaggerates the ups and downs in industrial production.

The pace of orders has slowed sharply over the past year and is now just slightly positive. Orders rise in an expanding economy and shrink in a contracting one.

In a good sign, business investment rose a sharp 1.4% after a string of weak readings. Companies invest more when they expect the economy to improve, but it remains to be seen if it’s the blip or the start of a trend.

Big picture: The industrial side of the economy has largely been sidelined by rising interest rates and a shift in consumer spending away from manufactured goods.

What has kept the economy afloat is an increase in spending on services such as travel, recreation and hospitality.

The divide in the economy is likely to persist for while and leave the U.S. more susceptible to a recession.

Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.11%
and S&P 500
SPX,
+0.88%
were set to open mildly higher in Friday trades.

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May 26, 2023
Philadelphia Fed’s factory gauge shows ninth straight month of declining activity in May

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The numbers: The Philadelphia Federal Reserve said Thursday its gauge of regional business activity rose to negative 10.4 in May from negative 31.3 in the prior month. Any reading below zero indicates deteriorating conditions. This is the ninth straight negative reading and the eleventh in the last twelve months.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal expected a negative 20 reading in May.

Key details: The barometer on new orders increased 13.8 points but remained at negative 8.9 in May. The shipments index rose slightly to negative 4.7. The measure on six-month business outlook worsened to negative 10.3 in May from negative 1.5 in the prior month.

Big picture: The continued contraction in activity is a sign that U.S. manufacturing continues to struggle.

The Philadelphia Fed index is closely followed to give economists an advance signal of factory conditions across the country.

The national ISM manufacturing index has been in contractionary territory for six months.

Earlier this week, the similar Empire State survey released by the New York Fed showed manufacturing activity plummeted 42.6 points to negative 31.8 in May.

Market reaction: Stocks
DJIA,
-0.23%

SPX,
+0.05%
were set to open mixed on Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
3.627%
rose to 3.62%.

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May 18, 2023
Manufacturing shrinks for 5th month in a row, ISM finds, with one gauge signaling recession
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The numbers: A key barometer of U.S. factories was negative in March for the fifth month in a row, reflecting an ongoing struggle by a key part of the economy to resume growth.

The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing survey dropped to 46.3% from 47.7% in the prior month. That’s the lowest level since May 2020, when the pandemic show down much of the U.S. economy.
Numbers below 50% signal that the manufacturing sector is contracting. The last time the index fell five months in a row was in 2019, during a trade fight with China.

The ISM report is viewed as a window into the health of the economy, and it shows growing strains. New orders shrank to a level historically associated with recession, for example.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast the index at 47.3%.

Key details:

The index of new orders dropped 2.7 points to 44.3%. “Sales a down a bit, and budgets being cut with a greater emphasis on savings,” an executive at a chemical company told ISM.

The production barometer edged up 0.5 points to 47.8%.

The employment gauge fell 2.2 points to 46.9%, marking the lowest level since early in the pandemic.

The price index, a measure of inflation, declined 2.1 points to 49.2%. Inflation is still a big worry, but price increases have slowed sharply since last summer.

Big picture: Manufacturers have battled supply shortages, high inflation and rising interest rates over the past year.

While the shortages are clearing up and inflation is slowing, interest rates are still rising, boosting the odds of recession both in the U.S. and abroad.

The result: The near-term outlook for manufacturers is still quite cloudy. More companies are tackling the problem with hiring freezes or even layoffs.

“Now companies are facing the reality that demand is not going to come back to support the current level of employment,” said Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM survey.

Looking ahead: “The new orders index is very much in recessionary territory, with only one previous occasion over the past 60 years where the index has fallen to that level without an economic contraction following,” noted deputy chief U.S. economist Andrew Hunter of Capital Economics.

Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.61%
and S&P 500
SPX,
-0.05%
rose in Monday trades.
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April 3, 2023