B2B News Update: What Factory Production and Holiday Travel Have in Common

 

Data out of Washington, D.C. this week shows positive signs for American factory production. The November numbers show a seasonally-adjusted increase of 1.1% in November.

That’s good enough for the biggest month-over-month increase since October, 2017.

The data is a measure of factory, mining and utility output.

It was not long ago we discussed the traffic and travel surge for Thanksgiving, and now just three weeks later the forecasts are in for the holiday season.

New data from the American Automobile Association reveals just how many people may be on the move for the Winter holidays.

AAA forecasts 104.8 million Americans, the most ever, will drive to their holiday destination. The biggest growth year-over-year will come from air travel, though.

6.97 million Americans will fly between December 21 and January 1, up 4.9% from the same time last year.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

coverage
Clip 2 – Fighting for Coverage: One Patient’s Story
December 3, 2025

Health insurers love to advertise themselves as guardians of care, but the real story often begins when a patient’s life no longer fits neatly into a spreadsheet. In oncology especially, “coverage” isn’t a bureaucratic checkbox—it’s the fragile bridge between a treatment that finally works and a relapse that can undo years of grit…

Read More
educator advocacy
Just Thinking… About How Rapid Shifts in AI and Policy Are Elevating the Need for Educator Advocacy in Texas Schools
December 3, 2025

Schools today are navigating a whirlwind of change, from new expectations in the job market to the growing influence of AI and the constant push to rethink accountability. That’s why conversations about educator advocacy matter so much right now. Texas, for example, ranks among the lowest ten states in per-pupil funding—even while boasting the seventh-strongest…

Read More
great leaders
Why Great Leaders Hire People Unlike Themselves
December 3, 2025

Leadership today is being reshaped by a simple lesson many leaders learn the hard way: a team full of people who think the same way won’t get you very far. Research shows that teams with deeper diversity—meaning differences in perspectives, values, and cognitive frameworks—consistently outperform more uniform teams in creativity, innovation, and complex decision-making. Today,…

Read More
Automation
Just Thinking… About How Career and Technical Education Can Keep Up With AI and Automation
December 3, 2025

Automation and AI aren’t arriving someday—they’re already reshaping factory floors, logistics hubs, and technical workplaces right now. That shift is putting schools, especially Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, on the spot: the jobs students are training for are evolving faster than most curricula. In its Future of Jobs Report 2025, the World Economic…

Read More