Factory headcount rises, freight volume remains level
January 2019 - “Manufacturing employment growth in the region over the past 12 months has been very healthy at 2.5 percent, compared to a lower 2.3 percent for the U.S. I expect this gap to close in the months ahead,” says Ernie Goss, director of Creighton University’s Economic Forecasting Group. Inflation has become elevated. Tariffs and demand growth, for example, boosted steel prices by 18.2 percent over the past 12 months. Farm machinery sales were still expanding in November while cargo volumes on trucks, trains and ships leveled out.
