The Gardner Business Index (GBI): Finishing activity that has been contracting for one year has been slowing for several months, lending some encouragement that things are picking up.
Though five of the six GBI Finishing components are contracting, four of them have slowed contraction and one has stayed steady. These include new orders, production, backlog and exports followed by employment, respectively.
Supplier deliveries continue to lengthen at a faster rate, getting more distant from 50.
Expectations of future business (not part of the GBI calculation) are still in expansion territory but taming just a bit relative to last month.
The Gardner Business Index: Finishing
Finishing activity contracts more slowly, remaining on a trajectory to flat.
Key Component Activity (3-MMA)
New orders, production and backlog all slowed contraction to drive the overall index in March with new orders leading the way.
