Published: July 03, 2009 10:46 am      

Good news in RV shipments

A small wave of economic optimism seems to have washed over Elkhart County recently in the form of RV shipment numbers released by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association.

We’re all for optimism.

THIS PAST APRIL the RV association reported 13,300 units shipped. In May that number held steady, fueling speculation that we are on an RV industry turn around.

We hope so.

Still, that 13,300 is a far cry from the peak of 31,400 units shipped in April 2008 before the recession began weighing heavily on American consumers. However, that 13,300 is significantly better than the 5,600 units that were shipped in December 2008, according to the association’s numbers.

MASS LAYOFFS ensued at local RV plants during the back half of 2008 and first months of 2009. The uptick in orders has allowed some RV companies to hire back some production workers in order to keep up. Executives at Keystone RV, for example, say about 150 employees have been rehired.

Dealers are reporting an increase in foot traffic, even if customers are more frugal with their purchases, opting for small RVs rather than larger ones. We’ll take baby steps.

Obviously it is too early to start doing somersaults. The unemployment rate in Goshen and Elkhart still ranks as the second highest annual increase in the country at 17.5 percent, but it is beginning to trend downward.

We are far from being out of the woods, but it sure is nice to see a few glimmers of hope.