GDP growth decelerated in 1Q due to a downturn in private inventory investment and a slowdown in nonresidential fixed investment, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
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Distribution executives commented on their current staffing situations in response to the Baird-MDM 1Q 2023 Distribution Survey.
Cutting tool consumption totaled $196.9M, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute and The Association For Manufacturing Technology.
Major ports across the U.S. saw their volumes drop last month to levels not seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
After a slow finish to an otherwise-robust 2022, revenue growth continued to decelerate to start 2023.
While talks of a slowdown persist, industrial distributors outperformed nearly all other wholesale sectors in 1Q's first two months.
We asked distributors if their gross margin was over- or under-inflated in 2022 thanks to pricing inflation. Here's what the data says.
While overall construction input prices rose slightly from February, they were 0.9% lower than in March 2022.
The increase was above investor expectations of a 0.2% gain, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal.
The Producer Price Index fell 0.5% in March, the largest decline since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
U.S. factory construction spending hit a record level in 2022, and it hasn't slowed down in 2023. Mike Hockett breaks down the numbers and what this means for distribution.
Backlog is down in every region except for the South, which continues to see elevated levels of current and future construction activity.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.1% in March, down from a 0.4% increase in February.
Year-to-date orders for 2023 totaled $819.6 million, 10.7% below the first two months of 2022, according to a new report.
It followed a 2.1% decrease in January.
Walmart said it expects about 65% of its stores to be serviced by automation by the end of its fiscal year 2026
The sales growth for the 12 months through February 2023 is 16.1% percent, according to a HARDI news release.
Private nonresidential spending was up 0.7%, while public nonresidential construction spending was down 0.2% in February.
Distributors have consistently voiced market optimism in recent months, but one of the leading economic indicators is cause for concern.
Distributors remain confident after a strong 2022 despite signs the economy may be slowing in 2023.
