Domestic Manufacturing

By Joseph Slevin
Money and Investing Writer

The coronavirus pandemic has debilitated the US economy in many different aspects. From the stock market to the unemployment rate, no one can deny that this virus has hit every sector of the American economy.

But in the past few month’s things have been looking up, the case of COVID-19 has gone down, the stock market has bounced back; just last month US manufacturing surged, beating almost all expectations for October.

These recently released October numbers show a two-year high, the last time the US saw these kinds of numbers was August 2018. Construction spending is up 1%, the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) reported that the national factory activity increased up to 59.3% in October, along with the US government giving trillions in aid to factors from April-June the boom is looking like it will continue.

These are all great statistics for manufacturing, but why is it happening? The simple answer, and it seems to be the answer to everything nowadays, is COVID. Americans’ needs have shifted.

At least for now, we have shifted from a service-based economy into goods based one. Although the US does not make these goods, there is a current need for them.

People began shopping and preparing for what they thought was the end of the world; the US population went through an extreme but brief reaction to COVID back in March. People started buying way beyond their actual need causing a shortage of essential items.

At the same time, Americans were buying in a frenzy, the US and China trade relations cooled down, and the US unemployment rate was decreasing. Trade relations and employment were foundational for a rebound for US manufacturing.

As lockdowns continued, large retail companies continued to gain momentum, and analysts predict firms to continue their record revenues. All of the above factors aid the domestic goods economy in the US while the service industry slows due to lockdown.

Contact Joseph at joseph.slevin@student.shu.edu