NAM Reports Historically High Optimism Continues Among U.S. Manufacturers

Last week the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) published its latest Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey. It found that the historically high levels of optimism that U.S. manufacturers expressed during the first two quarters of 2017 continued through the third quarter.

NAM reported: “In March, 93.3 percent of respondents were positive about their own company’s outlook, an all-time high in the survey’s 20-year history. That dropped slightly in the second quarter to 89.5 percent, then rose a bit again in the third quarter to 89.8 percent. As a result, this year we have seen the highest consecutive three-quarter average—90.9 percent having a positive outlook for their company—in the survey’s history.”