EBCI Index Registers Big Gain in November

Dec. 9, 2010
The Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American business conditions climbed 14.5 points in November, rising to 62.5 points from 48 points a month ago

The Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American business conditions climbed 14.5 points in November, rising to 62.5 points from 48 points a month ago. With a reading above 50 points indicating more panelists than not reported better conditions than a month ago, the EBCI, a survey of senior executives of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), Rosslyn, Va., shows widespread improvement in the business environment across the electroindustry in November, in contrast to the modest deterioration seen in October.

Nearly 38 percent of the NEMA executives who participated in the EBCI survey reported better economic conditions in November, a 22-percent increase over October’s figure. The largest share of panelists in both October and November reported conditions were unchanged.

The global EBCI indexes measuring current conditions were in growth territory for all regions, but the index for the Asia-Pacific region slipped 2.9 points to 55.9 points. Latin America’s EBCI Index gained 3.1 points to 53.1 points; and Europe moved into positive territory, gaining 9.1 points to 52.9 points.

Meanwhile, the EBCI for North American conditions six months in the future rose for the third month in a row. The index reached 75 points, its highest mark since May 2010, and is up a cumulative 21 points since August 2010. The global EBCI indexes measuring future conditions for Latin America (77.8 points), Europe (71.9 points) and Asia-Pacific (73.5 points) were also up.