- Lowest since May 2020
- Prior was +1
- Production -22 vs +2 prior
- New orders -16 vs -11 prior
- Prices paid for raw materials +26 vs +41 prior
Comments in the report:
“Prices paid for commodities still through the roof. No relief in sight. Labor is still hard to find. Economy is still decent – lots of future growth opportunities sitting out there – but they will be hard to support with labor market.”
“Overall workforce remains good. A second all-employee salary increase occurred in September which is over and above normal raises.”
“We are promoting productivity and efficiency. As I said, doing more with less. We are getting a good response from our workforce.”
“Supply chain is better, overseas shipments are cheaper and faster, helping reduce prices paid for materials.”
“We are still struggling with finding competent and reliable employees. It is severely inhibiting our ability to expand our operations.”
“We do not have the capital available for automation. We are concentrating more on our inventory availability.”