Schweitzer Engineering Labs founder honored

Ed Schweitzer III, founder and president of Pullman’s Schweitzer Engineering Labs, was presented a 2012 IEEE Medal in Power Engineering last weekend during a ceremony in Boston.

He was among 26 men and women saluted by the IEEE, a technical professional association, for achievements in technology, computing and engineering.

The award recognized Schweitzer’s role in “revolutionizing the performance of electrical power systems with computer-based protection and control equipment.”

His company, with offices in Pullman and Lewiston, designs and manufactures a range of products used in the electric power industry.

Staff report

U.S. factory orders rise, ending 2-month decline

WASHINGTON – Companies placed more orders with U.S. factories in May from April, demanding more computers, machinery and other equipment that signal investment plans.

The increase is a welcome sign after two months of declining factory orders.

Still, factory orders are down from the start of the year. And more recent data show manufacturing activity shrank in June for the first time in three years, adding to worries that weaker global growth is weighing on the U.S. economy.

“The demand for manufactured goods is recovering moderately and irregularly, but that recovery has been relatively weak relative to the magnitude of the previous declines,” said Steven Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics.

Factory orders increased 0.7 percent in May from April, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Core capital goods, which include machinery and computers, rose 2.1 percent. That’s better than the 1.6 percent estimated in a preliminary report a week ago and shows companies are still making investment plans.

Overall factory orders increased to $469 billion. That’s 43.5 percent higher than the recession low reached in March 2009. But orders have fallen 2.5 percent over the past five months from their post-recession high hit in December.

Orders for long-lasting durable goods, everything from airplanes to refrigerators, rose 1.3 percent in May. Orders for nondurable goods, which include food, paper, chemicals and energy products, edged up 0.2 percent.

Associated Press

Europe expects rate cut from central bank

FRANKFURT, Germany – Europe’s economy and banks could get modest help Thursday from an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank.

Economists think the ECB will cut its benchmark refinancing rate by at least a quarter point to 0.75 percent, a record low. On Tuesday, the expectation of a cut helped lift stock markets in Europe, which have been rallying since European leaders last week announced new measures to fight the continent’s debt crisis.

The ECB is likely to hold off from more aggressive measures. Its president, Mario Draghi, has said there is only so much the central bank can do and that it was up to Europe’s politicians to restore confidence in the 17-country eurozone.

Associated Press