Factories Are Gearing Up for a Post-Covid Boom
It’s easy to forget, but a year ago the industrial sector was looking saggy. A pandemic reset has greatly improved the outlook.
Everyone is optimistic about manufacturing now.
Photographer: Ty Wright/Bloomberg
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This week marked one year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, and what a year it’s been. But if you had been lucky enough to live under a rock and avoid the whole thing, the starting and ending data points for the manufacturing sector might leave you scratching your head as to what all the fuss was about. The S&P 500 Industrial Index is trading almost 20% higher than where it ended 2019. U.S. manufacturing activity expanded in February at the fastest pace in three years, according to Institute for Supply Management data. Copper prices, a key indicator of industrial demand, are near a decade high. CEOS at companies including 3M Co., Stanley Black & Decker Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. are spending like there’s no pandemic. By almost every measure, the industrial recovery is well underway and accelerating. It's remarkable when you stop and think about it.