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Manufacturing

Boat builders struggle to meet soaring demand, solve supply chain woes

by Kai Ryssdal and Minju Park
Apr 14, 2021
Boat sales leaped to a 13-year high in 2020, and the boom is expected to continue through 2021.
Back Cove Yachts builds recreational power boats. The company has an order backlog partly due to disruptions in the global manufacturing environment.
Courtesy of Jason Constantine
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Manufacturing's supply and demand problem

by Justin Ho
Mar 2, 2021
Demand for manufactured goods is booming, and the supply chain for raw materials is struggling to meet it.
Manufacturers have had a hard time procuring raw materials, like steel. Above, a worker trims newly cast steel.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
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COVID-19

Manufacturing is on a roll, but labor, some supplies run short

by Mitchell Hartman
Mar 2, 2021
Demand for manufactured goods like automobiles and appliances is starting to create bottlenecks in production.
"It’s just this weird transition from COVID to post-COVID, and one of the near-term impacts is likely to be a little bit of a pop in inflation," said economist Ben Ayers at Nationwide.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images
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Some businesses may struggle to follow Biden's "Buy American" rules

by Andy Uhler
Jan 28, 2021
Certain products have been outsourced for so long that finding a domestic supplier could be tough, one business owner said.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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I've Always Wondered ...

Why doesn't cereal come in resealable bags?

by Janet Nguyen
Jan 14, 2021
The common bag-in-a-box format has been used for decades.
Boxes of cereal line a grocery store in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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COVID-19

Business economists predict tough winter before 2021 rebound

by Meghan McCarty Carino
Dec 7, 2020
Economists expect moderate GDP growth in the fourth quarter, after a fall where consumer spending gave some businesses a boost.
A new survey from the National Association for Business Economists predicts just moderate economic growth in the last quarter of 2020.
Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images
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COVID-19

Manufacturers recovering as service industry continues to suffer

by Kimberly Adams
Nov 25, 2020
Orders for big-ticket items are a rare economic bright spot. But many businesses that rely on in-person customers are hurting.
Workers manufacture face shields in New York. Demand is healthy for medical and cleaning supplies.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images
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Elections 2020

A Biden presidency won't change what many Chinese exporters are doing

by Jennifer Pak
Nov 18, 2020
Chinese exporters have found ways to deal with the extra U.S. tariffs and those plans are not set to change under President-elect Joe Biden.
Changjian Shoe factory has moved much of its shoe production for the U.S. market from China to other countries in Southeast Asia in order to avoid U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace
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Despite business doing well during the pandemic, this manufacturer is nervous about the future

by Kai Ryssdal and Daisy Palacios
Oct 29, 2020
A check-in with Cary Quigley, president of Sterling Technologies in Erie County, Pennsylvania.
Factory workers at Erie's Sterling Technologies in 2017.
Maitham Basha-Agha/Marketplace
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Chinese exporter's take: Biden or Trump?

by Jennifer Pak
Oct 27, 2020
Some Chinese manufacturers do not expect the trade tensions with the U.S. to change much even with a Biden presidency.
Midnight Charm lingerie factory has been attempting to expand markets in Europe, Africa and the Middle East because of the U.S. tariffs imposed on its products.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace
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