With a reading of 43.2, Gardner’s metalworking business index showed that the industry contracted in November for the eighth month in a row. However, the index was unchanged compared with October and has been virtually flat since August, indicating that the industry may have hit a bottom.
Although our latest survey shows that spending on machine tools will slow in 2016, it’s an “investor’s market” for metalworking companies with vision and boldness.
With a reading of 43.2, Gardner’s Metalworking Business Index showed that the industry contracted in October for the seventh month in a row. While the index was slightly lower than it was in September, it has remained at virtually the same level for three months in a row.
With a reading of 44.1, Gardner’s Metalworking Business Index showed that the industry contracted in September for the sixth month in a row, although it did improve compared with August.
With a reading of 43.3, Gardner’s Metalworking Business Index showed that the industry contracted in August for the fifth month in a row to its lowest level since July 2009, when the index was 36.5.
With a reading of 47.8, Gardner’s Metalworking Business Index showed that the industry contracted in May for the second straight month, at virtually the same rate as in April, after 15 consecutive months of growth.
With a reading of 50.8, the Gardner Business Index showed that the metalworking industry grew for the 14th consecutive month and the 16th time in 17 months.