Drew Dixon
Economic indicators show a mixed bag of trends for the Northeast Florida business manufacturing sector in April, according to the latest Economic Monitoring Survey conducted by the University of North Florida (UNF).
On the upbeat side of the economic picture in the Jacksonville area, manufacturing business output remained above the essential 50-point mark in April, a general positive indicator of productivity.
“Jacksonville’s Output Index stands at 54 in April, indicating expansion in production for the local manufacturing sector. This figure suggests that more manufacturers are scaling up their operations than scaling down compared to the previous month,” the survey concluded.
The survey for the Jacksonville area tabulates several factors to establish the scale of manufacturing business trends in the area, such as business output, employment, orders, inventory, purchases and prices, among other elements. Albert Loh, associate dean of the Coggin College of Business at UNF, oversaw the survey.
The March survey showed fairly consistent upticks in the 12 areas that were surveyed, while only two of those indicators decreased. April saw a few more that dropped, such as new orders, new export orders, backlogs of work, finished goods and employment, all which saw a nominal decrease in April compared to March in the Jacksonville area. There were only two indicators that decreased in March.
“Jacksonville’s New Order Index registered at 48 in April, indicating a contraction in new orders in the local manufacturing sector. This metric reflects the volume of future production commitments and is often a leading indicator of economic activity,” the survey found, noting that the April figure dropped by 5 points from the March number.
The employment indicator dropped by the same month-over-month margin as new orders.
“In April, Jacksonville’s Employment Index stood at 48, indicating a contraction in manufacturing employment. This suggests that fewer manufacturing companies in Jacksonville are hiring or maintaining their workforce levels compared to the previous month, potentially due to reduced production needs or economic uncertainty,” the survey stated.
In summary, the survey concluded April’s manufacturing figures offset an uptick in many of the indicators that were on an upward trend in March.
“This contraction marks a slightly challenging phase for the manufacturing sector, which showed signs of recovery in March. However, there are elements of resilience, such as maintained output levels and accommodative input conditions, which include stable supplier deliveries and inventory levels,” the summary stated.
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Editor’s note: Drew Dixon writes development projects and website material for the Coggin College of Business but is not involved with the UNF Jacksonville Economic Monitoring Survey.
