U.S. industrial production remained flat month over month in August, with manufacturing output contracting 0.3% following a seven-month growth streak, according to the Federal Reserve. Durable goods manufacturing saw a 0.5% decline, while nondurable manufacturing remained unchanged. Capacity utilization held steady at 76.3%, sitting 3.1 percentage points below its historical average from 1972–2025.
Metalworking machinery orders topped $500 million in July for the fifth consecutive month, reaching $605.8 million, the Association for Manufacturing Technology reported. This represented an 8% decline from June 2026 but a 55.2% year-over-year increase. The trade group noted this marked only the second instance since data collection began in 1998 that orders exceeded $500 million for five consecutive months. Year-to-date orders through July 2026 totaled $4.03 billion, up 37.1% compared to the same period the previous year. Manufacturing technology orders declined between June and July 2026 due to investment reductions in industries including engines, turbines, and power transmission equipment, though forging and stamping orders reached their highest level since December 2012.
Several major manufacturers announced significant U.S. investments during the week. Hitachi Energy committed $528 million to expand its transformer manufacturing facility in Gallman, Mississippi, representing its largest single U.S. investment to date and part of a broader $1.5 billion U.S. manufacturing commitment. Construction is expected to begin late this year, with production commencing in 2029. Reckitt, a United Kingdom-based health and hygiene company, announced up to $600 million in investments across two U.S. facilities to expand its largest over-the-counter manufacturing plant in North Carolina and develop a science and innovation center in New Jersey. Additional expansion projects came from ArtiCast Holdings, which pledged $10.3 million to open a factory in Michigan, and Havione, which completed a $100 million U.S. manufacturing investment cycle with a new 31,000-square-foot facility in New Jersey.
Despite these investments, the manufacturing sector showed mixed employment signals. The industry added 16,000 jobs in August, yet multiple companies announced workforce reductions through Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications. Wonder Group announced 533 layoffs from facility closures in New Jersey, while Sapporo’s U.S. subsidiary reported 212 job losses from plant closures in California. Unemployment insurance claims for the week of September 12 increased approximately 0.3% compared to the same period the previous year, reaching 196,000, the Labor Department reported.
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