Metalworking Activity Stays Flat in October
The GBI for Metalworking reflects stability of most of the six GBI components that had been losing ground months prior. Ordinarily underwhelming, flat is good when it means not contracting.
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The Gardner Business Index for Metalworking hovers around 50 (49.6, to be exact) for the second month in a row, reflecting stability of most of the six GBI components that had been losing ground months prior.
New orders and exports contracted again, but at slower rates than in September, landing on top of each other in October. Employment and production hint at leveling off in October. Backlog is essentially unchanged, in part a function of contracting new orders. Supplier deliveries continue to lengthen at slower rates, entering levels in line with more typical, pre-pandemic readings. While employment stands alone in growth mode, reports of having more employees does not mean there are enough.
Metalworking GBI is essentially flat in October, reflecting mostly flat components. Photo Credit: Gardner Intelligence
Production stayed flat in October. Backlog and employment slowed in October, both landing close to September levels of contraction and growth, respectively. (3-MMA = three-month moving averages). Photo Credit: Gardner Intelligence
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