Manufacturing Indicators Strong

Tue., July 30, 1996

From Staff And Wire Reports

Two industry surveys released Monday suggest the pace of manufacturing continued strong in July, providing no evidence of the economic slowdown that Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is looking for.

The APICS/Evans index, designed to give an early reading on factory activity each month, rose to 53.0 in July from 50.1 in June. The Cahners Business Confidence Index edged up to 65.3 in July from 64.8 in June.

“The manufacturing sector has had nine lives and keeps surging ahead,” said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Norwest Corp. in Minneapolis.

Though a slowdown probably will come this autumn, Sohn said, “it won’t come soon enough” to prevent the Fed from raising rates at its Aug. 20 meeting, if not sooner.

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Manufacturing Indicators Strong

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