For the Industry's Makers of Heavy Machinery, The Great Recession Is a Real Depression
The world’s Great Recession is the equipment sector’s Depression, according to a September report jointly issued by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and the Associated Equipment Distributors. The sales slump dominated AEM’s annual conference, held Nov. 15-17 in Hollywood, Fla.
The contraction of original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) is “unprecedented in the post-war era,” says the report, prepared by IHS Global Insight for Milwaukee-based AEM and Oak Brook, Ill.-based AED. “The output of [OEMs]…will decline from $35.1 billion in 2006 to $17.5 billion in 2009,” it forecasts. The employment impact will be severe “as jobs fall from 56,800 to 23,100, a loss of 33,700 jobs or 59% of the 2006 labor force.” Taking into account supply chain and distribution, total job loss in the equipment sector is an estimated 550,000.