Demand for motors increased in the fourth quarter of 2012 as the Motors Shipments Index published by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) Rosslyn, Va., grew 6.5% from the previous quarter. This improvement follows on the heels of a 17.3% decline posted in the third quarter. Since bottoming out in the second quarter of 2009 during the depths of the Great Recession, the index has climbed a cumulative 30.9% percent but has dropped below its pre-recession high for the last two quarters.
Growth in the fractional horsepower segment of the motors market rebounded strongly in the first half of 2012 but plummeted in the third quarter and continued to fall in the fourth quarter of 2012 while integral horsepower motor shipments recorded a more moderate decline for the second consecutive month. The inflation adjusted dollar value of fractional horsepower motors shipments has increased by over a third between the second quarter of 2009 and the fourth quarter of 2012, while the value of integral horsepower motors shipments increased almost 2% over the same period. Details