The Top 50

It’s Getting Better All the Time…

Fans of The Beatles know the next line; unfortunately, so do many business executives. The past year was a tough one for US manufacturers in the household and personal products industry. After all, there was soaring inflation, flagging consumer demand and a range of regulatory hurdles to overcome in this country and around the world. Read how the biggest US companies in the global household and personal products industry overcame these obstacles in The Top 50, which can be found on the following pages. Once again, Procter & Gamble leads the way, followed by Estée Lauder, Colgate and SC Johnson. The Top 50 chronicles their struggles and successes during the past year. Nearly all of them would agree that fiscal 2023 was difficult. Yet, there are signs that things are getting better…no matter what John Lennon sang.

For example, the May Consumer Price Index increased 3.3%. That was lower than the 3.4% economists had predicted. Inflation has fallen from 9.1% in June 2022, but the Federal Reserve wants to see an inflation rate closer to 2%, so it appears the US will only get one rate cut before the November Presidential Election.

That news comes right as experts predict stronger growth in the US economy for the rest of the year. The 23 participants in the June Livingston Survey, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, predict higher output growth for the first half of 2024 than they predicted in the December 2023 survey. The forecasters, who are surveyed twice a year, project that the economy’s output (real GDP) will grow at an annual rate of 2.0% during the first half of 2024. They expect weaker conditions in the second half of 2024, when growth is expected to be at an annual rate of 1.7%. Both projections represent upward revisions from those of the December 2023 survey. Growth is expected to average an annual rate of 2.0% in the first half of 2025.

That’s good news, but there are reasons to remain cautious. Russia’s War in Ukraine shows no signs of ending, the Israel-Hamas War continues, China is threatening Taiwan and, most recently, Russian warships sailed off the coast of Cuba. Conflict, it seems is everywhere and where there is conflict there is a good chance that economies, and consumer buying power, will get damaged. Yet, the latest quarterly reports from P&G and others shows improvement in most regions. It proves once again that the household and personal products industry remains resilient no matter what’s happening in the world.