Latest from Mag

Plenty of executive appointments over the past two weeks. Here’s Electrical Marketing’s expanded coverage of personnel changes in the electrical market.
Dec. 21, 2012
Wire man John Pasqual and lighting rep Jack Melnick
Dec. 21, 2012
Image
Electrical product prices remained on their flat trend, showing no change from October and little change in almost all major product categories.
Dec. 21, 2012
Image
Privately-owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 861,000, 3% below the revised October estimate, but 21.6% above the Nov. 2011 rate.
Dec. 21, 2012
Dec. 21, 2012
Veteran reps form new agency in Raleigh; WinWholesale buys Lloyd Graves in Texas; United Electric Supply expands through acquisition; and more.
Dec. 21, 2012
W.W. Grainger Inc., Lake Forest, Ill., announced plans to purchase Techni-Tool Inc., Worcester, Pa., a 200-plus employee distributor supplying customers in the cable television...
Dec. 21, 2012
Kaman Industrial Technologies (KIT), the industrial distribution business Kaman Corp., Bloomfield, Conn., has built up in recent acquisitions of Minarik, Zeller Electric and others...
Dec. 21, 2012
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg offered an update on the city’s plans to renovate its infrastructure to withstand future storms.
Dec. 7, 2012

Leading Economic Index Falls In March After Small Increase In February

The Conference Board said the U.S. leading index decreased 0.4 percent, the coincident index increased 0.2 percent, and the lagging index decreased 0.1 percent in March.
May 13, 2005

The Conference Board said the U.S. leading index decreased 0.4 percent, the coincident index increased 0.2 percent, and the lagging index decreased 0.1 percent in March. The leading index declined in March following a small increase in February. The leading index has been essentially flat since October 2004 following a small decline over the previous five months. In addition, there have been more weaknesses than strengths among the components of the leading index in recent months.

Two of the 10 indicators that make up the leading index increased in March. The positive contributors — beginning with the largest positive contributor — were interest rate spread and manufacturers’ new orders for consumer goods and materials. The negative contributors — beginning with the largest negative contributor — were average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance; building permits; vendor performance; average weekly manufacturing hours; real money supply; index of consumer expectations; stock prices; and manufacturers’ new orders for nondefense capital goods.

The leading index now stands at 115.1 (1996=100). This index increased 0.1 percent in February and decreased 0.3 percent in January. During the six-month span through March, the leading index decreased 0.3 percent, with five out of 10 components advancing.