The U.S. manufacturing sector is showing incremental improvement with only a few potential speed bumps in the near-term, according to the quarterly Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) MAPI Business Outlook.
 
The survey’s composite index is a leading indicator for the manufacturing sector. The December 2013 composite index improved to 67 from 66 in the September survey—the fourth straight quarterly advance and the highest level since the September 2011 reading of 67. For 17 quarters, the index has remained above the threshold of 50, the dividing line separating contraction and expansion.
 
“This quarter’s survey results build on the gains of the previous survey,” noted Donald A. Norman, Ph.D., MAPI senior economist and survey coordinator. “The increase in the composite index and the continued improvement in most individual indexes signal that there is momentum pushing manufacturing activity and that activity is expected to increase over the next three to six months. The results suggest the sector has reason for optimism for all of 2014.”
 
The Composite Business Outlook Index is based on a weighted sum of the Prospective U.S. Shipments, Backlog Orders, Inventory, and Profit Margin Indexes. The views of 46 senior financial executives representing a broad range of manufacturing industries are distilled into 13 individual indexes split between current business conditions and forward looking prospects. Of those 13 indexes, 9 increased and 4 declined.
 
MAPI’s Composite Business Outlook Index is a historically accurate near-term preview of business prospects for the manufacturing sector and is a leading indicator of the Federal Reserve’s industrial production index.

To read the full MAPI press release featuring additional data points, click here.

To download the MAPI Business Outlook, click here.