ITR Economic Report – May 2020

The initial economic impact  of the COVID-19 Crisis has been especially painful for businesses and employees due to government ordered shutdowns, with unemployment rising to almost 25% of the workforce.  As the US consumer goes, so goes the economy.  Retail sales have been flat, light vehicle sales (our industry’s largest market) declined over 25%, signaling likely slowdowns in our shops in the months ahead.

It is not all bad news – this broad unexpected economic slowdown is expected to hasten an increase in GDP later this year (see the attached report for details) and full-fledged recovery in the latter half of 2021.  This is chess, not checkers.  Savvy management is using this time wisely to prepare for the long term opportunities.  Market specific indexes in recession, slowing growth and accelerating growth (yes, there are some!) are identified in this latest economic report from ITR Economics.

The Institute for Trend Research (ITR) quarterly reports focus on major areas of economic growth and decline in key market segments for the Precision Machined Products Industry. They are provided to PMPA members as part of the association’s overall business intelligence program and are used as a management tool to help PMPA members plan for what lies ahead and which markets they should focus on in a complex manufacturing environment.