The Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) Quarterly Economic Forecast predicts that inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) will expand by 1.8 percent in 2013 and by 2.8 percent in 2014, showing no change from MAPI’s November 2012 report.
 
Manufacturing production, however, is expected to show growth of 2.2 percent in 2013 and 3.6 percent in 2014. The 2013 figure is an increase from 2.0 percent and the 2014 estimate is up from 3.2 percent from the November forecast.

MAPI expects industrial equipment expenditures to advance by 5.5 percent in 2013 and by 8.9 percent in 2014. The outlook for spending on transportation equipment is for growth of 3.1 percent in 2013 and 2.6 percent in 2014. Spending on nonresidential structures will decrease by 1.0 percent in 2013 before improving by 6.8 percent in 2014.

The forecast for inflation-adjusted investment in equipment and software is for growth of 5.1 percent in 2013 and 6.3 percent in 2014. Capital equipment spending in high-tech sectors will also rise. Inflation-adjusted expenditures for information processing equipment are anticipated to increase by 6.3 percent in 2013 and by 7.7 percent in 2014.
 
Production in non-high-tech industries is expected to increase by 1.8 percent in 2013 and by 3.5 percent in 2014. High-tech manufacturing production, which accounts for approximately 10 percent of all manufacturing, is anticipated to grow 4.3 percent in 2013 and 9.0 percent in 2014.

Read the full MAPI news release.