The Business Outlook Shifts Down a Notch

(FORTUNE Magazine) -- Small companies have grown less optimistic about their prospects recently, according to the latest NAM/FORTUNE Manufacturing Index. In the second quarter, 85% of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies (those that employ fewer than 1,000 workers) responding to our survey were optimistic about their business prospects for the next 12 months; that was down from 91% in each of the past two quarters. Among large firms, 90% of respondents were upbeat, matching the figure from the previous quarter.

Large firms expect their sales to rise by 4.5% over the next 12 months. While that is a healthy pace, it is a measurable slowdown from the 5.1% expectation recorded in the first quarter. For small firms, expected 12-month sales growth is 4.6%, also a decline from last quarter.

Large survey respondents said they would be able to increase their prices by 1.9% over the next 12 months, a slight reduction from last quarter's expectations. Small firms expect to raise prices a faster 2.4%, a slight rise from the previous survey. All in all, the results of the most recent survey suggest that the manufacturing expansion remains on track but will shift into a lower gear in the year ahead.  Top of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.