The Gross Domestic Product for the third quarter is still positive at 2.5 which I think is very encouraging. The overall economy does keep expanding and, as we in the fluid power industry know, our industry exceeds the overall economy.
I recently viewed a webcast hosted by the NFPA which is the industry association for fluid power companies, and it was presented by Andrew Duguay of the Institute for Trends Research (ITR). In this presentation, Andrew discussed the trends curve for industry.
Most of the US economy is in what ITR fefers to as phase C, which is still a growth part of the cycle but at a reduced growth rate. He mentioned that the fluid power industry usually is in line with the overall production segment of the economy. That location on the curve is currently on the high part of the C cycle.
The most encouraging indication of the current economic trends as conveyed in this presentation is that we may be in for a soft landing rather than a recession. That simply means that we will only see a declining growth rate followed by an increasing growth rate, with no negative growth.
If that is the case, then we are in for a good 2012 and 2013. I am all for that.
