Finishing Activity Ended April Down 1.3 Points vs. March

The Gardner Business Index (GBI): Finishing contracted again in April, which had been the case every month from September 2022 through January 2023. 

• The April Gardner Business Index: Finishing presents with more consistency between directions of the overall index and components (reported as 3-month moving averages). The nature of movement is not in desired directions; however, i.e., contraction is faster, expansion is slower, or indices are flat vs. March.
• Specifically, new orders contracted at a faster rate while backlog and exports, both more contracted than new orders, maintained their March rates into April.
• Backlog contracted again at about the same rate in April, remaining at a distance from expansion.
• In expansion territory, production expanded at a bit slower rate while employment maintained its same growth rate into April.  
• Supplier deliveries continued to lengthen in April, but for the first time in a long time, the pace picked up. It is too early to know whether that uptick is real and what is driving it.

The Gardner Business Index (GBI): Finishing

Key Component Activity