Home / Lights & Construction

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, due to a decline in demand for durable goods such as furniture and home appliances, factory orders have been declining for three consecutive months. Currently, most domestic manufacturers in the United States have completed their backlog of orders in the past.

Orders were accumulated due to supply chain disruptions at the initial stage of the outbreak of COVID-19, making the manufacturing industry largely immune from the impact of large-scale layoffs in other industries such as technology and finance.

The supply chain was interrupted during the epidemic and again after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but it has improved greatly in the past year, and the backlog of manufacturing orders is rapidly reducing. At the same time, the demand for durable goods has decreased in recent months due to consumers and businesses reducing their purchases of furniture and other products after increasing expenses such as travel and dining out.

Shannon Seery, an economist at Wells Fargo, said that although weak demand has reduced manufacturers' backlog, once the backlog is resolved and demand remains sluggish, companies will begin to consider large-scale layoffs.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, non defense capital goods orders (a key indicator of commercial investment) have decreased in four of the seven months to February. In the past four months ending in February, durable goods orders (such as home appliances, cars, and furniture) have been declining for three consecutive months.

A survey of manufacturers in the Chicago area of the Federal Reserve shows that due to the slowdown in recruitment speed, recruitment in April will decrease compared to the previous month. The interviewed employers stated that they expect to continue to reduce recruitment in the next 12 months, as reported by Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the manufacturing industry experienced its first decline in employment opportunities in 21 months in February. In March, there were more manufacturing job losses, as reported by Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation.

Some scholars believe that manufacturing companies may begin large-scale layoffs this year. Economist Joshua Shapiro said, "Manufacturing companies will do their best to avoid layoffs, but I don't think they can last long. They will eventually have to force themselves to start layoffs," according to Huacheng Import and Export Data Watch.