The October Institute for Supply Management Research survey has been released indicating the local economy will continue a marginal growth pattern after weathering the General Motors strike.
General Motors related layoffs impacted the October Institute for Supply Management Research survey’s employment index. But as Brian G. Long, director of Supply Management Research in the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University explains, “The G.M; strike is over and we are optimistic that next month’s numbers will reverse a lot of the loss we saw, if not all of the loss that we have seen, since the strike at G.M. began.”
While one economic conflict is resolved, tariffs imposed from another are beginning to take their toll.
“Some of our local firms are starting to feel the pinch from this trade war that’s going on with China And so, we have to be a little less optimistic about what the industry looks like going forward.”
And the global economy continues to be an area of concern.
“Germany is in the worst shape right now because they have the worst because they have the worst statistics from the purchasing managers viewpoint that they have had in literally 11 years. Most of the rest of the world’s economies though, are just plain flat right now.”
Long says, “current signs still point toward a stagnation rather than a recession for the world economy.”
Patrick Center, WGVU News.