Real gross domestic product (GDP), which is the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States, increased at an annual rate of 1.3% in the second quarter of 2012, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (www.bea.gov). This is the 12th quarterly increase in a row for real GDP and comes on the heels of a first-quarter increase of 2.0%.
On the international trade front, real exports of goods and services increased 5.3% in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 4.4% in the first. And real imports of goods and services increased 2.8%, compared with an increase of 3.1%. The goods-and-services deficit decreased $3.6 billion from July 2011 to July 2012. Exports were up $4.9 billion (2.8%), and imports were up $1.4 billion (0.6%).
This is good news for U.S. manufacturers, right?
They seem to think so. The International Manufacturing Technology Show, held this past September in Chicago, welcomed more than 100,000 registered attendees with four full halls of advice and tools. It was indeed a week of optimism, new technology and well-worn shoes. U.S. industry appears to be revving up the engine.
And why not? While emerging economies continue to inch up the manufacturing food chain, some of them still learning the benefits of lean principles, continuous improvement, and other techniques that have been pillars of established industrial countries for decades, the art of production in world-class enterprises is now painted with strategic brush strokes that are more deliberate and calculated than ever.
And, based on the numbers, the economic picture is starting to look brighter.
