Reports indicate that manufacturer's input costs, namely energy and labor, have increased. Manufacturers report that they have been unable to raise selling prices, despite the increased costs. In fact, prices paid for lumber have declined across the nation. Some attribute the decline to increased import competition. In addition to rising costs and declining prices, the greatest easing of the labor market has been reported in the manufacturing sector.
Many economists expect manufacturing employment to continue to decline, due to seasonal layoffs.
An early indicator of the decline is the manufacturing workweek, which has dropped to an average of 41.1 hours. This is the lowest number of hours per week since 1996. Specifically, there was a strong 18.78 percent increase over the November report. While Humboldt County reported strong retail sales, national retail sales declined 0.4 percent for the month. The decline was steeper than expected.