NAM survey shows regulations, health care costs are manufacturers’ top concerns

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Washington, D.C., has released the results of its Q3 2016 "Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey," which reveals manufacturers' concerns about rising health care costs and regulatory compliance.

“Manufacturers continue to grapple not just with global economic challenges, but also with policy headwinds coming from Washington,” said NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray. “Regulatory barriers, rising health care costs, a broken tax code, and a lack of movement on free trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership haven’t helped either.”

The survey’s key findings include:

• Projected growth depends on firm size. Smaller firms anticipate sales growth of 1.3 percent, while medium and larger firms average 2.1 percent growth expectations.
• Manufacturers project a 2016 interest rate increase. More than 58 percent of survey respondents think the Federal Reserve will increase rates this year, but very few believe this increase will happen before December.
• Manufacturers agree government regulations have a disproportionate impact on small businesses. Of those surveyed, 88.8 percent either somewhat or strongly disagree with the notion that the federal government considers the point of view of small-business owners when it imposes new regulations.

For a full writeup of the survey, visit www.nam.org/outlook/.