Reuters reported that strong demand from emerging markets is driving profit growth for US manufacturers in 2011, but executives do not expect that to be much of a lift for the sluggish US economy.

In fact, a top executive at United Technologies Corporation attributed the 18.9% rise in profit at the world's largest maker of elevators and air conditioners partly to the company's ability to hold the line on hiring.

Mr Greg Hayes CFO at United Technologies Corporation said that "We've driven all this cost out. Sales have come back, but people have not. It's the structural cost reductions that we have done over the past few years that have allowed us to see strong bottom line results. While the company is adding some engineers in the United States, it is doing most of its hiring right now in emerging markets where demand for its products is growing. Until you see a big resurgence in consumer spending in the United States, I don't think you're going to see a big improvement in the employment picture."

Stubbornly high unemployment, which has held between 9% and 10% for most of the past two years, stands as one of the top problems facing the US economy and is shaping up as a key issue in next year's presidential election.

Big US employers continue to cut. This week, Cisco Systems Inc and Lockheed Martin Corporation said they would cut some 18,000 workers from their payrolls.

(Sourced from www.reuters.com)