May EBCI Slides For Current Conditions

June 8, 2007
Electrical manufacturers seem to be picking up some mixed signals on the current and future health of the electrical market.

Ectrical manufacturers seem to be picking up some mixed signals on the current and future health of the electrical market.

Following on the heels of two months of expansion, North American business conditions softened in May, according to senior industry executives responding to a monthly survey used to develop the Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI). The EBCI is published by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), Rosslyn, Va.

The EBCI Index for current North American conditions slipped to 38.6 points in the latest month from 62 points, its highest level in a year. The 50-point level represents an improvement in business conditions.

NEMA said the present deterioration in conditions may be short-lived. The EBCI for future North American conditions rebounded to 54.5 points from 50 points a month ago, indicating survey panelists expect business conditions six months from now to improve from their current level. Indeed, the North American future conditions index has equaled or exceeded 50 points in each of the last four months. Meanwhile, the EBCI Indexes for global market derived from May’s EBCI Index survey showed mixed results on a month-to-month basis. However, all six markets equaled or bested the critical 50-point threshold indicative of improvements in current or anticipated business conditions: The current conditions index for Latin America slipped 4.5 points to 53.8 points, while the future conditions index held steady at 61.5 points. Current conditions in Europe tumbled 15 points to 57.7 points, while the future conditions reading climbed 4.2 points to 50 points.

Current and future conditions indicators for the Asia/Pacific region both improved, up 3.1 points to 56.7 and 6.7 points to 60 points, respectively.