Metalworking Index Hits Six-Year Record
The Gardner Business Index for October 2017 reaches its highest point since 2011.
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The Metalworking Index finished at its highest point thus far in the calendar year, well above its year-to-date average. Strong readings in production, new orders and supplier deliveries have been critical to this success.
Strength in new orders has outpaced even the strong gains in production, and this has resulted record-setting backlog readings.
Registering 57.9 for October, the Gardner Business Index (GBI): Metalworking recorded its highest reading since 2011, raising the year-to-date average to 55.8 and reaching well above the average third-quarter reading of 55.3. The index is up approximately 15 percent and 18 percent for the year-to-date and 12-month periods, respectively.
Gardner Intelligence’s review of the underlying data for the month indicates that new orders, production and supplier deliveries lifted the index higher, while employment, backlogs and exports pulled it lower. No components contracted in October, as even exports expanded for the first time this year.
The GBI reading among only job shops also increased in the month, the third time in 2017 that it has surpassed the record high recorded in March 2012.
More information about the Metalworking Index can be found at gardnerintelligence.com.
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