Despite the fact that there has been no significant “recovery” of employment under the current Administration and Congress, There is a way to create your own personal “employment recovery.”

Can't count on Washington to get you back to work.
Can’t count on Washington to get you back to work.

PMPA tracks employment sentiment monthly as part of our Business Trends reporting,
Employment outlook sentiments have been positive for the PMPA members- above 90% for the entire year of 2013.
And our shops have been scheduling overtime- average length of first shift is 42.8 hours for calendar year 2013.
And by the way, earnings of new hires in manufacturing are higher than those not in manufacturing. 38% higher according to the U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration
Earnings premium of new hires in manufacturing over non manufacturing new hires
The folks in Washington haven’t done much to turn the nation’s employment situation back to the upside as you can see in the top graph.
But if you are comfortable with high school math- geometry, algebra, and trig- you could have a great career in precision machining.
For info on training programs  in your area check out the PMPA Comprehensive Career Training Database.
Career overview.
Why you should consider a career in manufacturing.
One of our members posted on Linked In “We would hire 3 guys right away with the right skills.”
Get skills. Create your own personal economic recovery.

Right out the of the gate the PMPA Business Trends Index shows a 46% gain over December shipments, the highest percentage increase for a January to December.

PMPA’s Business Trends Index of Shipments for January 2013 streaked to 127, the highest January ever, and up 46% over December 2012’s 87.

This bodes well ffor a strong year for precision machining in 2013.

Best January over December Increase in shipments...
Best January over December increase in shipments…

My biggest fear is that shops in our industry will continue to manage as if it were 2009 and not be ready to take advantage of the upside opportunities that we are already seeing in 2013.

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in May for the 34th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 36th consecutive monthFabricated metals was one of 13 sectors reporting expansion in May.

According to ISM’s Bradley J. Holcomb, “The PMI registered 53.5 percent, a modest decrease of 1.3 percentage points from April’s reading of 54.8 percent, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 34th consecutive month. The New Orders Index continued its growth trend for the 37th consecutive month, registering 60.1 percent in May. This represents an increase of 1.9 percentage points from April and also the highest level recorded by the index since April 2011. The Prices Index for raw materials fell to 47.5 percent in May, dropping 13.5 percentage points from April, indicating lower prices for the first time since December 2011. Comments from the panel generally reflect stable-to-strong orders, with sales showing steady improvement over the first five months of 2012.”

The dropping of the price index for raw materials is noteworthy, being the first such drop since December 2011.

Certainly the global uncertainty is likely to affect our markets in the coming months, but for now North American Manufacturing continues to lead the recovery.

PMPA’s Business Trends Report for the first four months of the year is consistent with The latest ISM report and indicates that the industry’s 2012 average shipments will likely finish up 8 to 9 points higher than last year.