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Jan Schafer Director of Market Research
Jan is a market research professional who loves learning and adding value to the businesses of Gardner’s advertisers, audience, and the company itself. Her curiosity, business knowledge, client service and shameless resourcefulness combine to enable Jan to lead research in manufacturing from objective-setting (do not even try to bypass it…) to delivering data-based recommendations (can’t dodge those either…) Jan attributes her capabilities to education in psychology and business administration followed by a healthy dose of ‘mixing it up.’ Her experience includes tending bar (more useful than you might expect,) early years (okay, 15!) at Procter & Gamble, developing her own consulting business, and leading supply-side research before landing the perfect gig at Gardner.
Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity Stabilizes in July
July closed at 44.2, which interrupts what had been three months straight of accelerating contraction.
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Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity Trends Down Again in June
The Â鶹´«Ã½ Index closed at 44.3 in June, down 1.2 points relative to May, marking a 2024 low.
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Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity Trends Downward in May
Accelerated contraction and declines in business optimism span manufacturing segments. Odds are that broad-reaching economic factors are at play.
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Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity Trends Slightly Downward in April
The interruption after what had been three straight months of slowing contraction may indicate growing conservatism as interest rates and inflation fail to come down.
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Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity Holds Steady in March
Overall metalworking activity leveled off in March, but not to a point of concern.
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Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity is on a Roll, Relatively Speaking
February closed at 47.7, up 1.4 points relative to January, marking the third straight month of slowed contraction.
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Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity Starts Year With Slowing Contraction
The GBI: Â鶹´«Ã½ welcomed the new year with slowed contraction of components for the second month in a row.
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Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity Shows Signs of Stabilizing Contraction
Â鶹´«Ã½ activity continued to contract in what has become a rather characteristic GBI ‘dance.’
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Large Plants Plan High Rates of Capital Spending in 2024
Gardner Business Media’s Capital Spending survey projects a modest decline of 7.4% in machine tool spending next year. While job shops are taking a wait-and-see posture, large plants plan robust spending with machining centers leading the way.
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Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity Remained on a Path of Contraction
Steady contraction of production, new orders and backlog drove accelerated contraction in November.
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Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity Continues its Roller Coaster Year of Contraction
October marks a full year of metalworking activity contracting, barring just one isolated month of reprieve in February.
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Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity is Nearing a Full Year of Contraction
Â鶹´«Ã½ activity has contracted since October of 2022.
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