Â鶹´«Ã½ Activity Shows Signs of Stabilizing Contraction
Â鶹´«Ã½ activity continued to contract in what has become a rather characteristic GBI ‘dance.’
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Â鶹´«Ã½ activity has contracted nearly every month for over one year, the exception being February 2023, which was flat. Since April 2023, a month of accelerated contraction in metalworking activity has remained stable into the following month. Contraction has tended to accelerate again the month following stability.
December maintained this dance, marking a flat-to-slightly-slower-contracting month, closing at 44.5, 0.8 points higher than November. Stable component activity drives the December GBI. New orders, backlog, employment and exports stabilized, still contracting, while production contracted at a slightly accelerated rate. Business sentiment (not included in GBI calculation) for the next 12 months improved faster in December, but did not play out in components.
The Â鶹´«Ã½ GBI continued with a mostly stable December. Photo Credit: Gardner Intelligence
Backlog and new orders are two of December’s mostly stable, contracting components, while future business is more optimistic going into 2024 (3-MMA = three-month moving averages). Photo Credit: Gardner Intelligence
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