Economic News
The U.S. economy grew at a 4% annual rate in the final three months of 2020 and shrank by the largest amount in 74 years as the global pandemic held strong.
In late January, the government estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product slowed sharply in the fourth quarter of 2020 after a record 33.4% surge in the July-September quarter. That gain followed a record-breaking 31.4% annual plunge in the April-June quarter, when the economy plunged.
The outlook for 2021 is still clouded as economists warn that a sustained recovery won’t likely take hold until vaccines are distributed and administered nationwide and government aid spreads throughout the economy. This is likely to take months.
U.S. employers barely added any jobs last month, underscoring the pandemic’s ongoing grip on the economy. The increase of just 49,000 jobs in January hardly made a dent in the nearly 10 million jobs that remain lost since the virus intensified nearly a year ago. The unemployment rate fell from 6.7% to 6.3% in January.
Economic Indicators
The January Purchasing Managers Index registered at 58.7%, down 1.8 points from the previous month. This indicates expansion in the overall economy for the eighth consecutive month, as a score above 50 represents expansion.
The Architecture Billings Index declined to 42.6 for the month of December, indicating that more firms saw declining billings verse the previous month. Any score below 50 represents a decline.
Steel Industry News
On February 1, President Joe Biden reinstated the 10% aluminum tariff on imports from the United Arab Emirates. Former President Donald Trump had lifted the tariff on his last day in office. This reinstatement suggests that it is unlikely the Biden administration will remove the aluminum tariffs imposed by the previous administration.
U.S. oil and gas drillers added rigs for the 11th consecutive week. The count of rigs in the U.S. was 392 for the week through February 5. Economists see oil and gas drillers to likely continue adding rigs as the economy recovers from the pandemic in 2021.
For more information, contact your local sales representative or view the February 2021 Market Insight Guide below.
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