BEREA, Ky. — If you only read the tech headlines, you would think the entire economy now lives or dies on AI model launches, GPU supply, and which companies can automate the most white-collar work the fastest.
Zoom out, and the picture looks steadier.
📈 The Real Economy is Still Growing
A Reuters column this week points to a rebound in global industry that does not depend on AI alone. Citing a JPMorgan analysis by economists Joseph Lupton and Maia Crook, Reuters reports global industrial output grew 2.4% in 2025—more than twice the roughly 1% annualized pace seen over the three years through 2024.
The same analysis argues that, despite heavy trade disruption, goods production outperformed services, and the “old economy” still carries real weight.
🚢 The Tariff Factor
JPMorgan’s read is also more specific than the usual “things were fine” comfort story. A big slice of the 2025 industrial growth was actually pulled forward into February and March as companies rushed shipments ahead of President Donald Trump’s April tariff sweep.
Reuters reports JPMorgan estimated 1.6 percentage points of that 2.4% annual growth landed in those two months. However, the severe slowdown many expected later in the year did not arrive in the way forecasts predicted.
🏭 More Than One Signal
There is also a second, independent signal that fits the same theme. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI, produced by S&P Global, showed global goods production expanding into early 2026, with February’s update describing a “solid pace of global goods production to start the year.” It is not the exact same measure as the 2.4% industrial output growth, but it reinforces the broader point that manufacturing did not roll over simply because the headlines were focused elsewhere.
🛠️ Physical Realities Remain
None of this is an argument against AI. It is a reminder that economies are still built on physical realities. People still buy cars and appliances. Companies still move freight. Construction still happens. A massive amount of national income still comes from making things, moving things, repairing things, and feeding people.
Even in a world where software radically reshapes workflows, the goods economy can grow on its own traditional drivers: interest rates easing from the 2022–2024 tightening cycle, improved hiring, and consumer demand that holds up longer than expected.
🌎 Why This Matters Closer to Home
For a place like Berea, this is a highly useful counterweight to the “everything is automation now” storyline. If you work in logistics, manufacturing, building trades, maintenance, or any hands-on role, the global data is a reminder that demand for the real economy does not evaporate just because a new LLM tops a benchmark.
AI may change how work is organized and how businesses make decisions, but it has not replaced the need for the underlying physical work.
If you want the clean takeaway, it is this: AI is a big story, and it will keep being a big story. But it is not the only engine turning. The rest of the economy is still doing what it has always done—making, moving, and selling everyday goods at scale.
🔗 Where to Read More
- Reuters Column: Maybe the global economy isn’t all about AI
- S&P Global Data: J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI
🖊️ About the Author
Chad Hembree is a certified network engineer with 30 years of experience in IT and networking. He hosted the nationally syndicated radio show Tech Talk with Chad Hembree throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, and previously served as CEO of DataStar. Today, he is based in Berea as the Executive Director of The Spotlight Playhouse, proof that some careers don’t pivot, they evolve.