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September-October 2018

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24 PalletCentral • September-October 2018 palletcentral.com Economy Gains Momentum During the first half of 2018 the U.S. economy gained momen- tum. Growth was already doing well in 2017, but the Trump tax cut added some additional fuel. Overall economic growth (as measured by Gross Domestic Product – GDP) is now running about 3% above year ago levels. Consumer spending continued to grow at the same rate as the last few years, a bit below 3%. The big boost came from business investment which has improved significantly, in part due to the cut in corporate profits tax and a rebound in oil prices (the number of oil rigs surged again). Overall government spending improved as well and is now growing above 1%. Residential and net exports have been relatively flat this year. GDP The stronger economic growth boosted industrial production, which is the important macro-economic proxy for pallet demand. Industrial production (manufacturing only) was running about 3% above year ago levels in July. This is the strongest growth since 2012. The growth in 2012 is a little misleading however, since it was merely the rebound from a very deep hole after the Great Recession in 2009-10. Emerging Challenge: ECONOMY By Lynn Michaelis iStockphoto.com/IPGGutenbergUKLtd iStockphoto.com/urfinguss

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