Manufacturers are showing increased confidence following the recent tax bill, according to a survey by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). The Q3 2025 Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey reveals a 10-percentage-point rise in optimism, with 65.0% of respondents expressing a positive outlook, up from 55.4% in the previous quarter.
Despite this boost, manufacturers continue to face significant challenges. The survey highlights ongoing concerns such as trade uncertainty, which increased slightly to 78.2%, rising raw material costs at 68.1%, and increasing health care costs at 65.1%.
NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons commented on these findings: "These results confirm what we’ve seen in the economic data—that the sector is still enormously challenged as manufacturing output took four months to recover from this spring’s dip, and optimism still falls below the survey’s historical average of 74%." He emphasized the need for a comprehensive manufacturing strategy that includes sensible trade policy and modernized regulations.
The Federal Reserve's August production data aligns with these sentiments, showing manufacturing output at 100.3% of its 2017 average, only slightly above March's level. NAM Chief Economist Victoria Bloom noted that manufacturers anticipate moderate growth over the next year, with production expected to increase by 2.5% and capital investments by 1.0%. She added that while costs are projected to rise, they will do so at a slower pace than in Q2.
The National Association of Manufacturers releases these survey results quarterly for public access.
Further information on the survey is available here.
Information from this article can be found here.
