The majority of the indicators turned down in the third quarter after briefly turning up in the second quarter. Profits--the only positive indicator--increased 22% to a respectable annual rate of $6.6 billion. This is the third quarter in a row that profits have increased after the industry posted a loss in the fourth quarter of 2002. On the negative side, employment, which has been steadily falling since 9-11, totaled 573,000--the lowest level since at least 1953. Sales and exports both also declined, although the latter more than the former--indicating, perhaps, some relative strength in sales to domestic customers. Lastly, orders fell 16% from the second quarter which was the best quarter since the first quarter of 2001.

In Billions of Current Dollars	3Q 2003	2Q 2003	% Change 2Q03 to 3Q03	3Q 2002	2002 Year-End	2001 Year-End
Aerospace Sales	$39.30	$40.03	-1.8%	$39.22	$159.58	$168.76
Profits	$1.64	$1.35	21.6%	$2.13	$6.55	$6.57
Orders	$31.98	$37.92	-15.7%	$36.23	$139.72	$148.71
Exports--Total	$12.35	$13.13	-5.9%	$14.12	$56.78	$58.51
Exports--Civil	$10.26	$10.95	-6.2%	$11.63	$47.35	$49.37
Exports--Military	$2.09	$2.19	-4.4%	$2.49	$9.43	$9.14
Employment (in thousands)	573	582	-1.5%	612	559	649

For more information about AIA's Statistics, please contact stats@aia-aerospace.org.