Sluggish Start to 2024 Signals No Quick Fix in Manufacturing
An inventory hangover is dissipating but with a stretched timeline for government stimulus, a rapid resurgence in growth looks unlikely.
Fastenal is a distributor of factory floor odds and ends and its results are usually a good indicator of what’s to come when its manufacturing customers report later this month. Its underwhelming sales performance isn’t encouraging. Boxes move down a conveyor belt inside a distribution center in 2016.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
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The worst of the recent US manufacturing slowdown is likely over, but the industry’s growth prospects for the rest of the year are more sluggish than super.