Member Briefing September 2, 2026

ISM: Manufacturing Growth Continues, Though at a Slower Pace, In August

Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in August for the eighth consecutive month to 54.6%, but that was 1 percentage point lower than July, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s latest Purchasing Managers’ Index. The overall economy grew for the 22nd month in a row, ISM reported. A figure below 50% indicates an industry in contraction. “Although we’re in the eighth month of an expansion trend, the Iran war and tariffs threats continue to be the biggest concern to the manufacturing economy,” Susan Spence, chair of ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said during a media call on Monday

• Five of the six largest manufacturing industries — transportation equipment, petroleum and coal products, machinery, computer and electronic products, and food, beverage and tobacco products — expanded in August.
• The New Orders Index expanded for the eighth consecutive month registering 53.7%, down 3 percentage points compared to July’s figure of 56.7%.
• The August reading of the Production Index at 58.3% was 0.2 percentage point lower than July’s reading of 58.5%.
• The Prices Index remained in expansion, or “increasing” territory, registering 71.1%, the same reading as July.
• The Backlog of Orders Index registered 51.8%, down 3.2 percentage points compared to 55% in July.
• The Employment Index reading of 51.2% was down 1.6 percentage points from July’s figure of 52.8%.

Read more at Manufacturing Dive

NY Fed: Businesses Are Using AI to Transform Work, Not Cut Jobs

The ongoing advancement and adoption of artificial intelligence continues to raise concerns about widespread job losses. Over the past three years, our regional business surveys have asked firms about their AI adoption and its effects on their workforces. This year, we found that AI use among regional businesses has continued to rise sharply, with more than 60 percent of service firms and about half of manufacturers now using AI—a notable increase from 40 percent and 26 percent, respectively, reported in 2025.

Despite this rapid adoption, regional firms’ investments in AI are generally modest, usage tends to be concentrated among a small share of workers within firms, and layoffs have remained uncommon. And, while some firms have scaled back hiring due to AI, others have added workers to help them use it. Retraining employees in response to AI remains the primary way firms are adjusting their workforces.

Read more at The NY Fed

Global Bond Selloff Intensifies

A global bond sell-off deepened on Tuesday, pushing UK borrowing costs to their highest level since 2008 and Japan’s to peaks not seen since the 1990s, as investors bet that central banks will step up the pace of interest rate increases. The benchmark 10-year gilt yield jumped 0.08 percentage points to 5.23 per cent, its highest level since the global financial crisis, while 30-year yields leapt 0.09 percentage points to 5.87 per cent, the most since the late 1990s.

The Japanese 10-year bond yield reached 3 per cent, its highest level since 1996, while US 10-year Treasury yields rose 0.02 percentage points to 4.78 per cent. Bond yields move inversely to prices. The moves came after a renewed flare-up in the conflict in the Middle East and rising expectations that central banks will raise rates to combat inflation from higher energy prices, increasing the strain on indebted governments. “Everyone is increasing their borrowing at a time when funding costs are going higher,” said Eric Robertsen, head of global research and chief strategist at Standard Chartered. “The fiscal situation is not improving anywhere. Until we get a change in those fundamental factors, the long end doesn’t have an anchor.”

Read more at The Financial Times

Iran and the Middle East

• US Launches New Barrage Of Strikes On Iran Around Strait Of Hormuz - Reuters
• Iran’s President Says Iran Would Return To Ceasefire Agreement If US Does – AP
• U.S. Tries to Squeeze Iran With New Strikes, Economic Pain - WSJ
• Two Oil Supertankers Hit by Projectiles in Hormuz, Marisks Says – Yahoo Finance
• Washington’s Deadly New Headache: an al Qaeda-Houthi Terrorist Alliance - WSJ
• New US Missile Appears To Have Left Wide Path Of Death And Destruction In Iranian City, Report Says - AP
• Mine Warfare With Iran Hampers U.S. Efforts to Win Control of Hormuz - WSJ
• Interactive Map – US and Israeli Attack in Iran – ArcGIS Story Maps
• Map – Conflicts in the Middle East – Live Universal Awareness Map

Ukraine

• A Sixth Straight Day Of Russian Strikes Hammers Kyiv, Killing At Least 12 – AP
• Bessent Reportedly Tells Russia It Won’t Get Economic Relief Until It Ends Ukraine War - CNBC
• With US Bill's Fate In Balance, Ukraine To Lobby US On Russia Sanctions - Reuters
• Germany Blames Russia For Drone Incursion, Announces Retaliatory Measures - Politico
• Zelenskiy Says Ukrainian Drones Have Effectively Closed Russian Airspace - Reuters
• China Will Stop Russia From Going Nuclear, Finland’s Stubb Says - Politico
• Interactive Map: Assessed Control Of Terrain In Ukraine – Institute For The Study Of War
• Map – Tracking Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine – Live Universal Awareness Map

Other World Headlines

• Xi Builds Diplomatic Clout With Multiple State Visits Ahead Of Trump Summit - CNBC
• Poland Pivots To Home-Grown Defence Production As It Builds Europe's Biggest Army – Reuters
• India Rejects Hague Order To Uphold Decades-Old Water-Sharing Treaty With Pakistan - CNBC
• Indian Prime Minister Modi Asks Putin To End Ukraine War Amid U.S. Tariff Threat On Russian Oil - CNBC
• Venezuela’s Maduro To Test US Courts' Reluctance To Apply International Law In Criminal Cases - Reuters
• Rescuers Saved Some 80 People In Grand Canyon Floods That Left 2 Dead And 1 Missing, Officials Say - AP
• UK Finance Minister To Set Out 'Clear Path' To Higher Defence Spending In Spring - Reuters
• Argentina Legend Lionel Messi Announces International Retirement - ESPN

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Congress Funds Government Until December, Averting Preelection Shutdown

The House on Tuesday voted to send a short-term extension of government funding to President Trump’s desk, avoiding a politically risky shutdown before the midterm elections. The continuing resolution (CR), which funds the government through Dec. 11, passed the House on a 370-48 vote, with 19 Republicans and 29 Democrats voting in opposition. The Senate advanced the measure by a landslide last month. The CR now pushes the spending battle to before the holidays, when the outcome of the midterms will help determine how much leverage each party holds to set the spending agenda.

The early timeline and the broad bipartisan support the CR received are clear signals that both parties were anxious to avoid a fall funding fight with the congressional majority hanging in the balance. Congress has contended with two record-breaking shutdowns in the past year alone. The Senate version of the CR was adopted by a margin of 90-6, and several of the Democratic senators who voted “no” did so as a signal, as they knew the bill would succeed without them. Still, the funding stopgap didn’t get universal support in the House, and it could cause problems for Speaker Mike Johnson.

Read more at The Hill

Government Borrowing Costs Rise Anew, Adding To Pressure On Global Policymakers

A selloff in global bond markets deepened on Tuesday, reflecting investor angst over inflation and government debt levels that stand to inflict fresh pain on consumers and businesses. Some of the world's leading economies, notably the U.S., have sharply increased their debt loads in recent years through deficit spending, with the U.S. debt hitting $40 trillion - a shift investors warn is likely structural rather than episodic and will be difficult to remedy without tough choices at the national level. Real yields are ​the returns that a bond ⁠investor demands above inflation, an indicator of true borrowing costs for governments and companies, and can be affected by several factors, including long-run economic growth.

“This is likely primarily a U.S.-specific story, though global currents are amplifying ​it," said David Krakauer, vice president of portfolio management at Mercer Advisors. "The core drivers are largely domestic: deficit spending, the cost of servicing a rising debt load, and shifting Treasury auction dynamics," in which price-sensitive buyers such ​as hedge funds and other private firms have in part supplanted price-insensitive official buyers such as central banks.

Read more at Reuters

G-20 Finance Ministers Hear of AI Threat To Global Financial System at Ashville Meeting

G20 finance ministers and central bank officials have convened in Asheville, North Carolina at a time when the world is reeling from the fallout of the Iran war, tariffs and rising long-term borrowing costs. In this backdrop, the head of the G20's Financial Stability Board has warned the group of the growing threat posed by frontier artificial intelligence models. “New technologies and changing market structures present significant opportunities, but they also require continued vigilance and international cooperation," Andrew Bailey, who also heads the Bank of England, stated.

Bailey observed that AI models are showing increasingly sophisticated autonomy, problem-solving abilities and threat capabilities. "The risks associated with frontier AI will not respect national borders," Bailey noted. "The global financial system is highly interconnected, and cyber disruption can spread across jurisdictions through common technology providers, shared infrastructure, and cross-border financial activity." Bailey called on financial institutions, financial market infrastructures and technology providers to strengthen vulnerability management and prepare for scenarios involving simultaneous disruption on multiple fronts.

Read more at Seeking Alpha

November Election Headlines

• Sen. Ed Markey Trounces Younger Challenger in Massachusetts - WSJ
• Lynch Fends Off Massachusetts House Primary Challenge In Battle Over Generational Change – The Hill
• Democratic Incumbents In Massachusetts Hope To Defy Primary Push For Generational Change – The Hill
• A 'Sleeper Issue' In Red States This Fall: Diesel Prices - Politico
• Real Clear Politics Generic Congressional Vote Poll Average – Real Clear Politics
• 2026 Senate Election Forecasts – 270 to Win

More Policy and Politics Headlines

• Two Democrats, In Highly Unusual Move, Cross The Aisle To Save GOP Bills – The Hill
• Army Secretary Resigns After Months of Friction With Hegseth– WSJ
• President Trump Nominates Hung Cao As Navy Secretary – The Hill
• Pentagon Seeks Software Cryptography For Quantum Safety – Defense Scoop
• Supreme Court Lets White House Continue Construction On Trump’s $400 Million Ballroom - AP
• Pentagon Expands Military Financing To More Countries – National Defense
• FAA Announces First Remotely Piloted Hybrid-Electric Cargo Flight – Aerospace Global News
• Mike Johnson Tells House GOP Leaders He Met With Elon Musk - Politico
• GOP Hard-Liners Threaten Rebellion Over Stopgap Funding Bill – The Hill

Scientists Create Most Detailed Map Yet of Proteins Linked to Autism

Scientists have mapped a network of interacting proteins, to create a “blueprint” of some of the molecular changes that are associated with autism spectrum disorder. The new map is the largest of its kind and tracks over 1800 proteins that may play molecular roles in the condition. “Autism may have hundreds of different genetic starting points, but this study suggests that many of those different roads converge on the same molecular intersections,” says Christian Schaaf, a genetics researcher at the University of Heidelberg, who was not involved in the work.

For this study, Matthew State, a psychiatrist and genetics researcher at the University of California San Francisco, and his collaborators looked at 100 gene variants common in these severe autism cases. These selected variants change the structure of the proteins they produce. The results offer a more systemic understanding of the underlying biology of autism. The map suggests, there is far more commonality than previously realized, which also means that potential therapies may work for many more people than expected. These overlap points are areas for scientists to dive deeper with future studies. “This is hypothesis generating” research, Dhindsa says.

Read more at National Geographic 

Upcoming Council Programs

Events

Annual Luncheon and Expo - Friday November 20, 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The Grandview, Poughkeepsie.

Insight Exchange - On Demand Webinars

The Orange County Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ): Duty Elimination, Reduction Deferral - Presented by Steve Gross, Orange County Economic Development

C3POA - Key Perpectives on your CMMC Compiance Journey - Presented by Nick DeLena, PKF O'Connor Davies.

CMMC for Legacy Equipment: Securing Specialized Assets with Zero Trust Micro-Enclaves - Presented by Marc Hoover, Trout Software.

See previous episodes here!

Training

Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership (CML), In Person at Orange Community College , Newburgh.  Sept 16 - Dec 9. 8:30 - 4:30. (7 Courses)

AI Without the Hype: A Practical Roadmap for Growing Businesses In Person at Marist University.  September 24, 8:30 -11:00 AM. (Manufacturers Only Please)

Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, In Person at DCC Fishkill.  October 13, 14, and 15. 8:30 - 4:30.

Trade Wars

• Canadian Small Businesses to Bear Brunt of New U.S. Tariffs – WSJ
• Williams-Sonoma To Spread Tariff Refunds To Vendors, Employees – HR Dive
• US Trade Official Downplays Canada Trade War: ‘It’s More Their Emergency Than Ours’ – The Guardian
• Companies Slash Consumer Choice to Save on Import Costs - WSJ
• Pressure Mounts On Europe As Trump Deals Push Pharma To The US - Politico
• Chinese Executives May Join Xi’s US Trip, As Trade Truce Extension ‘Almost Certain’ – SCMP

US Urges G20 To Cut Trade Imbalances, Focus On China

The Trump administration urged other G20 countries on Tuesday to do more to protect their domestic industries and job markets from Chinese ​imports, arguing such distortions were "sucking" much-needed growth out of the global economy. The two-day meeting of finance chiefs - which saw differences in tone between the U.S. hosts ‌and some of the European participants - came amid a global bond market selloff on worries over growing debt levels and inflation pressures.

China's massive export push has pressured economies across the globe, especially as the United States has imposed high tariffs on ​Chinese goods and outright bans on some products, such as Chinese vehicles. With chronically weak domestic demand, China has doubled down on exports of electric vehicles, semiconductors and other goods, and its total exports rose 23.9% ​in July year-on-year, prompting growing calls in Europe for tougher curbs on Chinese imports. China's goods trade surplus with the European Union hit €360.6 billion last year, a 15% increase on 2024, and has expanded further this year as Chinese firms have sold more to the ​EU and imported less.

Read more at Reuters

Chobani Announces $1.2B Dairy Plant in Lehigh Valley

After years of recruiting new dairy processors that netted some small wins, lots of frustration and one heartbreaking miss, Pennsylvania has landed a $1.2 billion Chobani plant. The Lehigh County processing plant is the largest single private investment in agriculture in the state’s history, according to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration. Chobani’s founder and CEO, Hamdi Ulukaya, praised the large number of family-run dairy farms in Pennsylvania and said Shapiro, Sen. Dave McCormick and local leaders helped make the plant possible.

Chobani plans to begin production in 2027. When fully operational, the plant will consume 3 billion pounds of milk annually, the equivalent of 30% of Pennsylvania’s current milk production, the governor’s office said. Chobani is taking over a 1.5 million-square-foot manufacturing plant at 7356 Industrial Boulevard in Upper Macungie Township that had been run by Keurig Dr Pepper since 2019. The Chobani plant is expected to create 900 jobs.

Read more at Lancaster Farming

Invite: CEO RoundTable Discussion for Fall HV Mfg Magazine

Supply constraints are weighing down Nvidia’s financial outlook for its next fiscal year, executives said on an Aug. 26 earnings call. The shortages span the artificial intelligence infrastructure provider’s supply network, extending from high-speed memory and silicon vendors to suppliers of AI data centers under construction, co-founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang told investors.

“We have a really gigantic supply chain, and so, we have incredible partners, and we’ve secured a lot of supply, but we just need a lot more,” Huang said, noting that while it has supply to drive 70% year-over-year revenue growth in fiscal 2028, that amount falls short of demand. Nvidia’s supply-demand gap is expected to remain a bottleneck at least through the fiscal year ending in early 2028, EVP and CFO Colette Kress said. The semiconductor shortage has also raised prices, particularly amid “extreme pricing conditions in memory,” Kress said.

Read more at Supply Chain Dive

Anthropic Signs $35 Billion Cloud Deal With Nvidia-Backed Lambda, Source Say

Anthropic has signed a cloud-computing ​deal worth $35 billion with Lambda, a cloud provider backed ‌by Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, for a Texas data center, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. The project is being developed in Nueces County by crypto-mining-turned-AI data ​center company Hut 8 (HUT.O), opens new tab and covers a capacity of about ​350 megawatts, the source said, speaking on condition of ⁠anonymity as the information is not public.

Demand for computing infrastructure has surged following the introduction of generative AI services, prompting technology companies to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in ​data centers equipped with advanced chips from Nvidia and other manufacturers. IPO-bound ​Anthropic has been aggressively expanding its computing power to meet demand growth it ‌expects ⁠for products such as its AI coding tool, Claude Code. It said last week it will spend $45 billion to rent AI cloud computing power from Nscale's West Virginia data center campus.

Read more at Reuters

Rolls-Royce Completes $1 Billion Investment In Indiana Test Campus

Rolls-Royce has marked the completion of a $1 billion, decade-long investment in its Indiana manufacturing, assembly, and test facilities- reinforcing the company’s position as a cornerstone of America’s defence industrial base and one of the state’s leading advanced-manufacturing employers. The investment — the largest the company has made in the United States — modernised advanced manufacturing across the Indianapolis campus and added full engine-test capability, including new ground test facilities, and an altitude test facility in West Lafayette. More Rolls-Royce defense products are built in Indianapolis than anywhere else in the world.

The campus tests and builds engines for a range of defence and commercial platforms, including future engines for the US Air Force B-52 strategic bomber and the US Army’s MV-75 Cheyenne, as well as current engines for the V-22 Osprey, the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray and the C-130J. Rolls-Royce employs approximately 3,500 people in Indianapolis, including a skilled UAW workforce, and supports thousands more jobs through its Indiana supply chain. Across the United States, Rolls-Royce has invested more than $1.5 billion in its facilities and nearly $2.5 billion in research and development over the past decade.

Read more at Machinery Market (UK)

Honda, Nissan To Partner On Standardized Vehicle Hardware And Software

Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. have entered into an agreement to jointly develop standardized multiple vehicle electronic control units for next-generation software-defined vehicles, which includes an in-vehicle operating system and key parts of middleware and vehicle control software, Honda announced in a press release. The electrical/electronic architecture and jointly developed ECUs and software are planned for the companies’ next-generation SDVs in fiscal year 2029 and beyond.

The agreement also includes future Nissan and Honda collaboration opportunities across a range of areas, including the software domain of SDVs, which Honda says is key for vehicle intelligence and electrification. By standardizing these core vehicle sub-systems, the companies aim to leverage their combined engineering expertise and development resources to accelerate innovation, boost competitiveness and reduce vehicle development costs through economies of scale.

Read at Ward’s Auto

Raytheon Completes $50M Mississippi Plant Expansion for Next-Gen Jammer

Raytheon has completed a $50-million expansion of its manufacturing facility in Mississippi, adding capacity for electronic warfare and radar systems used by the US and its allies. The 17,000-square-foot (1,579-square-meter) addition at the company’s Forest, Mississippi, site expands the facility to 445,000 square feet (41,341 square meters) and is expected to create 100 high-skilled jobs by 2028. Raytheon said the new space will support production, testing, and integration of airborne electronic warfare systems and radar programs.

Much of the new capacity will support production, testing, and integration of Raytheon’s Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) pods for the US Navy and Australian government. The NGJ-MB is an airborne electronic attack system carried by the EA-18G Growler. It uses digital, software-based technologies and electronically scanned arrays to disrupt, deny, and degrade enemy air defense and ground communications systems. In April, the system was adapted for installation on tactical vehicles and surface ships, with modifications to extend its electronic warfare capabilities across multiple domains.

Read more at The Defense Post

Tim Cook Invokes Steve Jobs In His Last Message To Apple Employees—Just Like He Did When He Became CEO

Today marks a historic turning point for Apple. After 15 years at the helm, Tim Cook is no longer the company’s CEO. Instead, John Ternus is stepping into the role—only the third person to do so this century. The first, of course, was Steve Jobs, whose impact on the company and industry has not lessened in the years since his passing. On his last day as CEO, Cook sent a final message yesterday to Apple employees. What is most interesting about the message is its striking similarity to the first message Cook sent to employees upon assuming the role in 2011.

CBS News published Cook’s first internal letter to employees as CEO on August 29, 2011. “Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that – it is in our DNA,” Cook wrote. “We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do.” Fifteen years later, Cook again invoked Jobs’s legacy in his final outgoing message to employees, which was published by 9to5Mac. “We have made it possible to leave our “dent in the universe,” as Steve once described it, because of who we are and what we believe, because of what we value and how we see the world,” Cook wrote. “How fortunate we are. How fortunate I am.”

Read more at Fast Company

El Niño Threatens to Disrupt Industries Worldwide

The El Niño weather pattern of 2026-27 is shaping up to be among the strongest in living memory, roiling industries across the global economy, the WSJ’s Ed Ballard and Costas Paris write. It is showing up in the cost of transiting the Panama Canal and in Chilean copper output, and could influence everything from Asia’s rice crop to the powder at Colorado ski resorts. Economists say the overall impact of the weather phenomenon is likely to be slower growth and more inflation, notably in Asia’s emerging economies.

Among those bracing for impact are shipping companies using the Panama Canal, a chokepoint that is tightening just as shipping is throttled from the Strait of Hormuz to the parched Rhine. The Panama Canal Authority plans to reduce the maximum number of vessel transits, and the average auction price for ships using the largest locks has surged. Elsewhere, excess precipitation is the problem. Chilean copper producer Antofagasta cut its production forecast after a powerful storm stopped operations at its Los Pelambres mine in July, squeezing an already tight market. Europe has endured punishing heatwaves, wildfires and rivers running dry this summer, foreshadowing how the shifting climate will change the continent’s business as usual.

Read more at The WSJ

Daily Market Update Sept 1, 2026

The October ’26 natural gas contract is trading down $0.06 at $2.87. The October ‘26 crude oil contract is up $2.24 at $88.00.  

Read more at NRG

Learn more about the Council of Industry Energy Buying Group

Quote of the Day

“His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.”

J.R.R. Tolkien - British Author and Academic from his Novel 'The Return of the King.' He died on this day in 1973.

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