ISM® has reported December Manufacturing PMI® of 58.7 percent for US manufacturers, a decrease of 2.4 percentage points from the November reading of 61.1 percent. This figure indicates expansion in the overall economy for the 19th month in a row after a contraction in April 2020.
The numerous headwinds facing the housewares industry will remain in 2022, and uncertainty remains. But after the pandemic’s second year, many housewares executives have found a way to manage those headwinds while also putting plans in motion to not only maintain their position, but build on it.
“Unpredictability felt like the new normal in 202l, and now we’re going through another unimaginable event with the Omicron variant,” says Yvette Laugier, managing director of Peugeot Saveurs North America, LLC, and chair of the International Housewares Association’s (IHA) Board of Directors. “But our industry has become more resilient, and we’ve learned to adapt quickly. Together we can face any challenge thrown at us.”
