The outlook for manufacturing companies showed improvement in the second quarter of 2007, with owners predicting increased revenues and plans for additional hiring during the next 12 months, according to the Small Business Research Board (SBRB).
The Manufacturing Industry Small Business Confidence Index (SBCI) reached 40.3 during the second quarter of 2007 according to the report co-sponsored by International Profit Associates (IPA). The reading of 40.3 is an increase of 3.3 points from the SBCI of 37 reported during the first quarter poll. However this number is lower than the SBCI of 46 reported for all U.S. small businesses.
"The manufacturing sector has demonstrated great resilience the past few years, certainly when compared to its performance through most of the 1990s and also in comparison to other industries," said Gregg M. Steinberg, president of IPA. "Nevertheless, going forward, it is clear that owners must be focused on tightening their operating controls."
The report showed that 52% of manufacturing companies survey are expecting revenues to increase during the next 12 months and 33% plan to increase hiring even though only 36% believe the economy will improve during the next 12 months.
But this number is down from the previous quarter when 47.8% said they expected greater revenues and 23.3% said they expected to increase hiring.
