Caterpillar, the giant global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, also considered to be a bellwether for global economic conditions, reported an unexpected 13% plunge in orders in the three-month period from December through February.
" Caterpillar, the giant Peoria-based maker of heavy construction machinery, made the same point more vividly when it declined in February to locate a new factory in Illinois, specifically citing concern about the state's "business climate and overall fiscal health.
His economic initiatives seem to be starting to bear fruit: Caterpillar, a heavy-equipment giant, said last month that new business-tax laws have persuaded it to add workers at an Indiana factory where it had previously cut jobs.