There are interesting and encouraging data points amid all the confusion, with some trends emerging about job shop activity, high-demand industries, and manufacturing employment.

New orders for CNC machines are a reliable indicator of near-term growth in manufacturing activity - in nearly every major manufacturing sector - because those purchases mean operations are preparing for new business coming their way. And 2025 order values are on pace to top 2024.

So what is the continuing debate about interest rates and inflation? And what trends might we watch bear out in 2026? AMT principal economist Chris Chizik describes what the data reveals about manufacturing growth.