NAM: Manufacturers Worried About Health Care, Tax And Regulatory Costs

According to the National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) quarterly survey of its members, only 56.6 percent of manufacturers are feeling optimistic about their own company’s outlook. That figure was down for the fifth quarter in a row and was at its lowest point since the fourth quarter of 2012. 

The NAM said trade was a factor in manufacturers’ growing pessimism. In the survey, 61.5 percent of respondents said that the recent slowdown in global growth had negatively affected their international sales, up from 57.9 percent during the last quarter. 

Nearly three-quarters – 73.9 percent – of those surveyed said they are worried about rising health care and insurance costs and see those factors as one of their greatest challenges. Overall, those surveyed expect their health insurance costs to increase 7.6 percent over the next year. Three-quarters of those surveyed also cited tax and regulatory costs as a major concern. The NAM said, “[M]anufacturers continue to be frustrated with the lack of comprehensive tax reform and with a perceived regulatory assault on their businesses.” 

The report came as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced it expects slower global economic growth in the coming months. According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), the OECD “said its gauges of future economic activity – which are based on information available for January – continue to point to slowdowns in the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Russia, but now also suggest growth is set to ease in Germany and Brazil.”