Featured Image

Latest GDP Release Shows Manufacturing Sectors Exceed General Economic Growth

Oct 30, 2024

Mclean, Va. (October 30, 2024) — Today the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released their first estimate of GDP for the third quarter of 2024. According to the first estimate, GDP grew 2.8% at an annualized rate.

"The GDP print today shows that the economy continued to grow near trend despite high interest rates," said Christopher Chidzik, principal economist of AMT. "We can see the strength of the sectors dependent on the metalworking machinery that AMT members build and sell, with capital goods (excluding automotive) driving both imports and exports in Q3.

“Personal consumption expenditure continued its meteoric post-COVID climb, rising at 8.1%, exceeding growth in the general economy. Similarly, business investment in equipment grew at 11.1%, indicating continued need for capacity across business sectors. With September’s Fed rate cut coming only two weeks before the close of the quarter, much of this growth occurred in the environment of higher interest rates. Looking to the next Fed rate decision on Wednesday, November 6, we will see how the additional GDP data will affect the path of interest rates for the remainder of the year.”

PicturePicture
Author
Kristin Bartschi
Director, Marketing & Communications
Recent intelligence News
Today at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, the Federal Reserve gave the strongest indication to date that an interest rate cut is in the cards for September. Will manufacturers, who face a tight labor market, increase technology investments?
Oxford Economics now projects 2.9% growth in 2025 machine tool orders. See what’s driving the shift and get the full forecast at AMT’s MTForecast on Oct. 15-17 in Schaumburg.
With a robust history of data spanning nearly three decades, AMT’s statistical programs offer the most frequent, accurate, and applicable information on the manufacturing technology market.
The Federal Reserve held the federal funds rate steady at a target range of 4.25% to 4.5% for the fifth meeting in a row. For the first time since December 1993, two members of the committee dissented.
Today, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released their advanced estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2025. Real GDP increased by 3.0% on an annualized basis, driven by a sharp reduction in imports.
Similar News
undefined
Intelligence
By Kristin Bartschi | Aug 22, 2025

Today at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, the Federal Reserve gave the strongest indication to date that an interest rate cut is in the cards for September. Will manufacturers, who face a tight labor market, increase technology investments?

5 min
undefined
Intelligence
By Christopher Chidzik | Aug 20, 2025

Shipments of cutting tools, measured by the Cutting Tool Market Report, totaled $204.1 million in June 2025, declining 1.8% from May 2025 and 3.9% from June 2024. Year-to-date shipments totaled $1.23 billion, a drop of 4.9% from the same period in 2024.

4 min
undefined
Intelligence
By Christopher Chidzik | Jul 21, 2025

Shipments of cutting tools, measured by the Cutting Tool Market Report, totaled $207.8 million in May 2025. Orders dropped 2.3% from April 2025 and 5% from May 2024. Year-to-date shipments totaled $1.03 billion, a drop of 5.1% from the same period in 2024.

4 min