WASHINGTON, April 8: A barometer of the US manufacturing outlook shot to a record high in March, and factory job prospects improved, a survey of industry executives showed on Thursday.
The business outlook barometer, compiled from a survey by the Manufacturers Alliance/ MAPI research group, edged up one point to 78, the highest in the survey's 32-year history. Any figure above 50 indicates expanding future activity.
"The significance of the March survey results is that the surprising strength shown in the previous quarter's survey was repeated for a second straight quarter," said Manufacturers Alliance/ MAPI economist Donald Norman.
"This adds confidence to expectations that manufacturing sector activity will expand in 2004." The survey also polled executives on the outlook for manufacturing employment. Over one-third, 36.2 per cent, replied that employment would increase moderately or significantly in 2004, compared with 25.9 per cent who said employment would fall.
Employment may rise as early as the second quarter, when 27.5 per cent of respondents anticipated a moderate or significant bump in hiring, compared with 17.2 per cent who expected jobs to shrink, it said.
Factories posted no change in employment in March, according to government data, halting 43 consecutive months of layoffs that had destroyed three million jobs since July 2000.
Overall, US employers added a four-year record of 308,000 jobs in March, the biggest gain since April 2000, as the labour market finally caught up with the rest of the economy.
A labour market turnaround could be a boon to President George W. Bush, who has weathered heavy criticism from Democratic challenger John Kerry ahead of presidential elections on November 2. Kerry has promised to create 10 million jobs in four years, accusing Bush of overseeing the loss of more jobs than any president since Herbert Hoover, who ushered in the Great Depression of the 1930s. -AFP
