Shale a bright spot in ‘fragile’ recovery: Surma

Jun 19, 2012 | 04:32 PM | Michael Cowden

Tags  John Surma, U.S. Steel, Steel Success Strategies, shale plays, Michael Cowden

NEW YORK — The U.S. economy has been traveling a "long and very winding road to economic recovery" since the dark days of late 2008, but it is gaining steam thanks, in no small part, to the impact of abundant and affordable domestic energy resources, such as shale gas, according to U.S. Steel Corp.’s top executive.

"Overall, the global economic recovery we all crave often appears elusive, but is probably a story of two steps forward and one step back," particularly in the United States, John P. Surma, chairman and chief executive officer of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, said during a keynote address at the Steel Success Strategies XXVII conference in New York.

At the beginning of 2012, for example, it appeared that employment, consumption and consumer confidence were improving, Surma said. But there has been a deceleration in hiring and wage growth, as well as a slowing in manufacturing growth trends. All of this highlights the "very fragile" nature of the U.S. recovery, he said at the event, co-hosted by AMM and World Steel Dynamics Inc. (WSD).....