November Index Shows Expansion at Slower Rate

Registering 54.3 for November, the Gardner Business Index (GBI): Precision Machining moved lower after two months of strong expansionary gains. For the year-to-date period, the index has averaged 55.5 and increased by approximately 1 percent in 2017. Gardner Intelligence’s review of the underlying data indicates that supplier delivery production and new orders lifted the business index higher, while employment, backlog and exports pulled the index lower. For November, only exports contracted slightly after having expanded in September and October. All components of the index moved lower in November except for supplier deliveries, which recorded slightly faster growth as compared with the prior month.

November saw slower growth in new orders and production as compared with October’s figures. Although the latest figures are below their year-to-date averages, they are well above the average readings from 2015 and 2016 and compare favorably with the strong readings of 2014 when the Precision Machining Index experienced solid cyclical growth. In the three-month period from the beginning of September to the end of November, backlog has drastically transitioned from record high growth to being almost flat. For the calendar year, backlog has experienced volatile expansion with only one month of contraction during that time.