Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey: Second Quarter 2022
The 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Q2 2022 Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey shows manufacturers’ significant concerns around recession, inflation, hiring and China competition legislation. The 51³Ô¹ÏÍø conducted the survey May 17–31, 2022.
Key Findings:
- In the survey, 59.3% of manufacturing leaders believed inflationary pressures would make a recession more likely in the next 12 months.
- Increased raw material costs topped the list of primary business challenges in the second quarter, cited by 90.1% of respondents.
- Three-quarters of manufacturers felt inflationary pressures were worse today than six months ago, with 53.7% noting that higher prices were making it harder to compete and remain profitable.
- The top sources of inflation were increased raw material prices (97.2%), freight and transportation costs (83.9%), wages and salaries (79.5%) and energy costs (55.9%), with 49.4% also citing a shortage of available workers.
- When asked about what aspects of the China competition legislation were most important for supporting manufacturing activity, 70.9% of respondents cited addressing port congestion and competition issues in ocean shipping.
- Despite ongoing economic headwinds, manufacturers remain largely optimistic, with 82.6% of respondents maintaining a positive outlook for their company.