Gremlin-USA
<<< Me in 1970
Perhaps. Yet where I work, steel industry, we just added a fourth shift, so we are now going 24/7. Haven't done that since October, 2008.
Then you are one in a 100, we have steel suppliers and fabrication shops all over the country who are hurting for business. The phones rings off the hook with salespeople looking to sell steel and others looking to manufacture something. I have been in the Steel Industry for over 25 years, we manufacture handling equipment for steel processing and also customers who move finished products made with steel.
Some of more notable clients are Caterpillar, Roper Corporation, County and State Government Institutions, every single one of them is on budget restrictions and lower staff then they were in 2008, while business has improved slightly in the last few years, they are a long way to a full work force.
Only reason business has improved is after 2-3 years of purchasing almost nothing, you get to a point where things need to be replaced, the small improvement is not because the economy is improving that well, it is out of do or die necessity.
The average price for a pound of A-36 steel is up to 47 cents, while WF Beams are averaging 49 cents a pound. Up 30-35% form a few years ago.
Then you start adding fuel costs for shipping and all the government required paperwork and mandates that raise costs, very few companies in Manufacturing are hiring or planning any major upgrades.
About the only business we see hiring in large numbers are the Korean owned Companies moving here because of tax breaks from States and the fact they can get cheap labor from manufacturing workers that will take super low pay because the have been out of work so long.
So, yes from what I see and find from most of our customers, Americans and business is very Pessimistic about the current administration.
.
Last edited: