The Economy

Friday Finale: Some Good News to Ponder

April 21, 2012

Page Siplon, executive director of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics, sent along his "Top 4 Encouraging Statistics" for this month:

U.S. GDP increased at an annual rate of 3% in Q4 2011. This is up from an earlier "second" estimate of 1.8%. Although the 120,000 jobs added in March surprised almost every economist (whose predictions averaged gains of 206,000 for March) the Nation's unemployment rate continued to fall, now at 8.2%.
U.S. exports continue to grow, setting another all-time record of $181.2 billion in February. This is almost 10% higher than the same time last year. (Source: U.S. Census)
Rising gas prices apparently did not deter Americans too much from buying new cars in March. Chrysler had its best month of sales since March 2008 and Nissan had its best month ever. General Motors sales were up by 12% year-over-year, and up 5% at Ford.
In February, building permits issued (an indicator of future housing starts) rose 5.1% to an annual rate of 717,000 (Source: U.S. DOC)

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An award-winning editor, Executive Editor Steve Minter covers global economic and international trade issues, tackling subject matter ranging from manufacturing trends, public policy and regulations in developed and emerging markets to global regulation and currency exchange rates. As well, he supervises content production of all IW editorial products including the magazine, IndustryWeek.com, research and informationproducts, and executive conferences.

Before joining the IW staff, Steve was publisher and editorial director of Penton Media’s EHS Today, where he was instrumental in the development of the Champions of Safety and America’s Safest Companies recognition programs.

Steve received his B.A. in English from Oberlin College. He is married and has two children.