At the 2011 Annual Conference, economist Alan Beaulieu gave an update of the state of the economy as it affects the fluid power industry. The report was mostly positive with Alan forecasting that 2011 should like similar to the recovery of 2010. The overall economy is cooling off a bit but will still stay in the positive territory in the 12-month running comparison to the previous year.
Private sector employment is increasing and this is a good sign for the economy. About 100,000 jobs per month is the increase that is needed to keep our nation's unemployment figure moving in the right direction.
Alan projects that in 2012 we will see inflation of abut 4 to 5% which means that the prices of components and materials should be going up then. The other bit of good news is that the construction market has seen a 14.2% increase.
Overall, I found this report to be encouraging news. Combined with the comments that I hear from manufacturers and distributors, my conclusion is that the fluid power economy continues to grow and gain stability.
