Growth in Orange County’s manufacturing sector continued to outpace California’s in the third quarter, according to a survey of purchasing managers released Monday by Chapman University’s A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research.
Orange County’s manufacturing index rose to 60.7 in the third quarter from 58.9 in the second quarter. A value of 50 for the index shows an expansion of the manufacturing sector.
For the fifth consecutive quarter, California’s manufacturing sector outperformed the nation’s.
At 59, the California manufacturing index was marginally below where it stood in the second quarter, while the U.S. index rose 3.7 points to 56.5.
Manufacturing faces higher commodity prices in industries ranging from chemicals and plastics to aerospace and computers.
Chapman said the commodity price index,a component of the manufacturing index,had increased substantially in the third quarter to 80.7. That’s its highest level since the second quarter last year, when the index hit 83.8.
Chapman said that durable goods makers, other than technology companies, performed better than others in the period. Durable goods include autos, appliances and manufacturing equipment,anything that lasts longer than three years.
The indexes for non-durable goods were slightly higher than in the second quarter, while the index for technology industries “dropped substantially,” indicating that growth continued in the third quarter but at a “much slower rate.”
One potentially worrisome area of the survey for OC: New orders in technology industries decreased for the first time since the second quarter of 2003.
The survey tracks changes in production, employment, new orders, inventory of purchased materials, commodity prices and supplier deliveries.
