Global Manufacturing Economic Update: February 2018

Despite financial market uncertainty around the world, manufacturers added 15,000 workers in January. Tight labor conditions were also highlighted by strong wage growth. In manufacturing, wage growth increased 2.8 percent over the past year. Nevertheless, experts say the fundamentals of the global economy remain strong. Last month, the top 15 markets for U.S. manufactured goods grew. U.S. manufactured goods exports also showed a strong performance last year after poor results in 2015 and 2016. According to non-seasonally adjusted data, U.S.-manufactured goods exports totaled $1,094.73 billion in 2017. That is an increase of 4.34 percent from $1,049.24 billion in 2016.