The Institute of Supply Management just released manufacturing data for the month of January and it is worse than predicted by analysts. This has sent the stock market tumbling down 2.0%. Extreme weather conditions are being labelled as the cause of the outcome. Compared to the month of December last year, manufacturing was at a 4-year high so the optimism that came with it just got shattered by this month's report. In my opinion, as weather conditions get worse year by year and global warming becomes more of a reality, it is important for analysts to give weather conditions more weight in making future predictions about such type of data.
I agree with the idea that climate change is going to have a negative influence on our economy in the future. It's not just the manufacturing industry that will be hurt though. When we continue to have devastating storms such as Hurricane Sandy, entire towns will be considerably worsened and businesses will have to shut down to repair the damage they experienced. I also will think that the manufacturing industry will rebound during spring. If this is just a seasonal occasion, then once winter ends, confidence in the manufacturing industry should not be affected by the dangerous storms we have seen during this winter.
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