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The Gardner Business Index (GBI): Metalworking measures the current state of metalworking and machining activity through survey responses covering new orders, production, backlog, employment, exports and supplier deliveries. A reading above 50 indicates expansion; below 50 indicates contraction.

 The Metalworking Index landed at 48.3 in January 2025 marking four consecutive months of improvement as we kick off the new year. Nearly all components returned readings better than December with three of them also rising above previous year levels. Supplier deliveries was the outlier in terms of growth, mostly flat from last month.

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The GBI Components Scorecard reports the monthly change rate of primary metalworking market factors contributing to the overall monthly index reading.

Reading the Scorecard: 

• Color indicates where a component value falls relative to 50 for the current month. Green indicates expansion, and red indicates contraction.
• Shade indicates a value’s distance from 50. The darker the shade, the further from 50.
• Direction indicates a value’s change versus the previous period. Pointing up is always better.

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The GBI Future Business Index is an indicator of the future state of the metalworking market from industry respondents regarding their opinion of future business conditions for the next 12 months. Over 50 is expansion, and under 50 is contraction.

The Future Business Index continued its climb to 72.0 in January, rising to levels not seen since mid-2021. The reading reveals more and more shops share an optimism for business in the coming year.

Find the latest metalworking market research and reporting at .