By Noah Rothstein
A new report by JPMorgan found that the national trend of low inventories represents an “unprecedented non-recessionary inventory collapse” over the last 20 years, Yahoo! Finance reported.
Supply has taken a hit these last two years due to the pandemic. Shortages in labor and raw materials have been one of the main drivers in the global economic downturn.
“While non-manufacturing activity is now tracking a strong and steady recovery, the goods-producing sector has been buffeted by supply constraints alongside continued boomy gains in final demand,” the report mentioned. “The result has been a slump in inventories that, over the past two decades at least, looks to be unprecedented outside of a recession.”
Data analyzed in the report authored by JPMorgan Global Economist Joseph Lupton examined inventory and manufacturing sector changes. It suggested inventory has plummeted further than expected.
“What used to take us six weeks to get a container from Asia into the U.S. or Europe now takes ten weeks,” Corsair CEO and Founder Andy Paul said regarding supply chain bottlenecks. “It doesn’t really affect the overall business that much, just gives us a couple of short-term hiccups.”
The semiconductor chip shortage, which impacted an estimated 169 industries, has heavily impacted the automotive and technology sectors.
Stunted growth arising from issues within the supply chain has not adversely affected final demand, which has seen an increase in the second quarter.
“Despite the deceleration in manufacturing, final demand for goods continued to charge forward at a rapid pace,” the report stated.
