North American business conditions improved for the first time in eight months in March, according to senior industry executives submitting data for the Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI), a monthly survey of senior executives in the electrical manufacturing community published by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), Rosslyn, Va.
NEMA’s monthly Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions climbed to 56.5 points for the month, its highest level since April 2006. That represents a significant improvement from February, when the index stood at the “break-even” mark of 50 points.
Looking forward, the EBCI for future North American conditions indicated that survey panelists expect to see further improvement in business conditions over the next six months. While down from February, March’s reading of 54.3 points was the second straight to surpass the 50-point growth threshold.
EBCI indicators for global markets looked good, too. Five of the other six regional indices pointed to recent, or anticipated, improvements in business conditions. Current and future European conditions indicators remained strong at 68.2 points and 54.5 points, respectively, despite retreating from last month’s high levels.
Current conditions for the Asia/Pacific region climbed slightly to 57.7 points, while future conditions were unchanged at 69.2 points. In Latin America, current conditions for Latin America inched downward to 41.7 points, while future conditions held at 66.7 points.
In other economic news at NEMA, the association’s Lighting Systems Index fell 9.4 percent between the third and fourth quarters of 2006 and was off 5.6 percent on a year-over-year basis. The fourth quarter marked the third straight quarterly decline from a post-recession peak achieved in early 2006.