The Gardner Business Index (GBI) reported an accelerating expansion in business activity for October 2020 with a 53.9 reading. Removing the inflationary effect of sluggish supplier deliveries, the Index delivered a still encouraging reading of 52.4 and still above the comparable September reading of 50.1.
As manufacturers enter the fourth quarter of one of the most unique years ever, the Gardner Business Index (GBI) is one of the best resources available to help manufacturing leaders know how to prepare for the future.
Compared with one year ago, machine tool orders increased by 4.6%, which was the first month orders increased since June 2019.
September income was 5.5% more than one year ago, which was significantly faster month-over-month growth than the historic average.
September was the fourth straight month with faster than 11% growth, which was the first time that has happened since the summer of 1999 in the middle of the dot com bubble.
Consumer durable goods spending is growing extremely fast and indicating a bottom in the rate of contraction in durable goods new orders has occurred.
The GBI: Metalworking seemed to bottom in June indicating that the rate of change in cutting tool orders should bottom in the first quarter of 2021.
The monetary base is growing at its fastest rate since 2014 and should lead to increased spending on capital equipment in 2021.
COVID-19, work-from-home policies and extremely low mortgage rates have created demand for new homes.
The Moldmaking and mold industry has seen a surge in business activity led by expanding new orders. This occurs when a growing proportion of respondents each month signals that new orders are increasing. Gardner Intelligence sat down with Christina Fuges, Editorial Director of MoldMaking Technology Magazine (MMT), to discuss this and more. Click here to watch the interview.
E-commerce sales since 1999 have grown on average by 20-percent annually. Yet in this unusual year, e-commerce sales increased by 32-percent in just the second quarter of 2020 as people changed their purchasing behavior and their demand for certain goods vastly changed. For comparison sake, using its historical growth rate the industry would have needed 1 ¾ years to grow the same amount it did in just these three short months.
Consumer purchases of vehicles in the second half of 2020 have been surprisingly strong. In an unexpected move, luxury brands and pick-up trucks have led the rebound. All of this has been made possible by low interest rates and increased borrowing in the auto-loan market.
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