The news has mostly been good since our last update on the reports affecting wholesale distribution, manufacturing and the overall economy, but as coronavirus cases rise, so do fears of a so-called “COVID-19 cliff.”
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Latest Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) shows that three of four broad categories of indicators used to construct the index made positive contributions in October, and three of the four categories increased from September.
Indian River Consulting Group’s (IRCG) weekly Pandemic Revenue Index for the work week of Nov. 9 to Nov. 13 indicated an 2.2% decrease — but will more lockdowns further drag revenues in the coming weeks?
Housing starts also up compared to year-ago period and the previous month, according to the latest residential construction report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Latest report shows U.S. cutting tool consumption up 14.7% from previous month of August, while year-to-date total is down 23.1% from same period of 2019.
The seasonally adjusted Fastener Distributor Index (FDI) for October was 56.5, up from 49.2 in August.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments and inventories for September was up 0.8% from the same month last year.
According to the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization Report, manufacturing output increased 1% during the month; industrial production was still 5.6% below its pre-pandemic February level.
Indian River Consulting Group’s (IRCG) weekly Pandemic Revenue Index for the work week of Nov. 2 to Nov. 6 marked one of the best non-holiday-influenced weeks since February.
But new orders placed in September marked a 26.4% increase from the previous month, according to the most recent U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report.
Wholesale trade down from 2019, but it did show moderate improvement from the previous month of August, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
What’s on tap for 2021? In this exclusive video, Brian Lewandowski of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder provides distributors a macro view of wholesale distribution and the broader U.S. economy.
Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $38.5 billion, or 8.6%, from the same period in 2019.
In this exclusive video, Baird analysts Dave Manthey and Quinn Fredrickson go behind the numbers of the latest MDM-Baird Distribution Survey. In this 16-minute video, they speak with MDM CEO Tom Gale about the industry’s performance and projections.
The September figure is 1.5% above the September 2019 estimate and 0.3% above the revised August estimate; year to date, construction spending is up 4.1%.
Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) this week released its monthly TRENDS report, showing the average sales performance by HARDI distributors was an increase of 13.9% during September.
The October PMI registered 59.3%, an increase of 3.9% from the September reading of 55.4% — and the sixth consecutive month of expansion.
Buying group also reports that group purchases from AD suppliers were down 2% in the first nine months of 2020.
In the second quarter of 2020, when COVID-19 was decimating the U.S. economy, real GDP decreased 31.4%.
The U.S. Census Bureau this week released advance indicators showing that the international trade deficit and wholesale inventories both decreased in September.
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