Week 44 in Manufacturing News

Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates for Third Time in 2019; Brexit’s Effect on the UK’s Manufacturing Sector; New method promises advances in 3D printing, manufacturing and biomedical applications.

Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates for Third Time in 2019

The quarter-point cut comes as the economy continues to show signs of slowing, but the Fed signaled that it may pause to weigh incoming data before adjusting rates again.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday for the third time this year, reversing nearly all of 2018’s rate increases.

Source: The New York Times.

Manufacturing Is Now Smallest Share of U.S. Economy in 72 Years

Once a powerhouse of the U.S. economy, making up about a quarter of GDP in the 1960s, the manufacturing sector has steadily declined in importance.

Manufacturing made up 11% of gross domestic product in the second quarter, the smallest share in data going back to 1947 and down from 11.1% in the prior period, a Commerce Department report showed Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg.

Brexit’s Effect on the UK’s Manufacturing Sector

The effects of Brexit are being felt in the UK’s manufacturing sector and supply chains and may be felt for decades to come.

In April 2019, the British manufacturing sector was down 4.1% due to carmakers cutting back in anticipation of the original Brexit date of March 29, 2019. UK investment in plant and machinery fell 7.5% in 2016, and 6.5% in 2017, which led to significant lay-offs.

Source: Interesting Engineering.

New method promises advances in 3D printing, manufacturing and biomedical applications

In a development offering great promise for additive manufacturing, researchers have created a method to precisely create droplets using a jet of liquid. The technique allows manufacturers to quickly generate drops of material, finely control their size and locate them within a 3D space.

Source: ScienceDaily.