NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) indicated that conditions facing the North American electroindustry stabilized in September, after signaling deterioration in each of the three previous months. Just as many survey panelists reported conditions improved from August to September as reported conditions worsened. Sixty percent of the panelists reported conditions were unchanged.
The EBCI for current North American conditions climbed nearly nine points from August to reach 50 points in September. A reading of 50 points or better in the EBCI, published monthly by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), Rosslyn, Va., indicates the electrical market is in growth mode.
September’s EBCI for future North American conditions rebounded from the decline posted a month earlier and continues to point toward better conditions over the next six months, increasing 3.2 points to 58.3 points in the latest month. Nearly 37 percent of panelists said they expected conditions to improve by March 2012, versus 20 percent anticipating they will worsen. In August, 31 percent of panelists said they expected an improvement, while nearly 21 percent reported anticipating a decline.
The EBCI Indexes for global market conditions also improved in September, with Europe being the only region to show a decline. Latin America (+4.9 points to 70.8 points) and the Asia-Pacific region (+2.7 points to 65.2 points) registered strong increases for future market conditions. All of the global markets showed increases in current conditions, although Europe (+1.1 points) was well below growth mode at 26.1 points. Latin America’s current market conditions increased 1.8 points to 54.2 points, while the Asia-Pacific region increased 11.8 points to 54.3 points.